Bring Me To Life
by lauren3210
Summary: AU.  Elena suffers a mental breakdown and is admitted to a mental facility.  There is only one person who can bring her back.  Rated T .
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Okay so, this story idea literally just popped into my head last night while I was listening to some music, and I thought I would write it down and see what you all think! It's a bit weird, a little bit out there, and I really don't know where I am going with this or how long it will be, but I would really appreciate any feedback you want to give me! I have a (very) vague idea of what the story is going to be as a whole, and all will be explained in future chapters (if you like it, if it sucks, I'll probably just forget the whole thing). Oh, and the tenses flip around a bit in this story, but that is for a reason, it's not because my editing skills have run off or anything, LOL! You'll see the pattern eventually! Okay, so that's enough of me, read it and tell me what you think!**

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><p><em>I linger in the doorway<em>  
><em> Of alarm clock screaming monsters<em>  
><em> Calling my name<em>  
><em> Let me stay<em>  
><em> Where the wind will whisper to me<em>  
><em> Where the raindrops as<em>  
><em> They're falling tell a story<em>

(Evanescence - Imaginary)

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><p>"It's okay, sweetie, you're going to be okay."<p>

"Yeah! She's gonna be fine, she just needs a little rest, that's all."

"Caroline! Why are you talking like that? She's right here!"

"I know that! It's just... well, there's not much of a response, let's be honest!"

"Caroline!"

"Sorry! You know what I mean! I mean, she's just sitting there!"

"Carol-"

"Excuse me girls, we're ready to take your friend now."

"Oh, okay. Let me just... We'll come see you, okay? As soon as you're settled in."

The bed moves beneath the girl, but she hardly notices it. She can feel the straps as they dig into her arms and around her waist, but the feeling is separate to her, as though she is disconnected from her body. That is okay. That is good, even. If she isn't connected, then nothing can hurt her.

The bed sways below her, and a distant memory is triggered deep within her. A woman, laughing, as a young girl with long brown hair swings to and fro on a swing. The woman's face keeps coming closer and then quickly receding, but although the face looks familiar, she can't think of the name attached to it. It doesn't matter; nothing matters anymore.

A heavy blanket is draped over her legs as the bed is moved out into the open air. Her head is jolted slightly as the bed makes contact with something, and then the world before her darkens slightly, like the sun disappearing behind a cloud. But the girl doesn't turn her head to find out why. She is disconnected; she doesn't care where the sun has gone, its light holds no meaning for her.

The sound of heavy doors slamming shut reverberates through her head as though from a very far distance, and the bed shudders as an engine roars to life. The sound of beeping fills the small space, and suddenly instinct kicks in. She doesn't want to be here. She doesn't know where "here" is, but she is suddenly very certain that this is not a good place to be. She tries to sit up, straining against the restraints, her eyes wide, staring at nothing.

"It's okay, honey, don't panic," a male voice tells her, calm and reassuring. A hand, one that feels weird, like it is covered in glue, slides down her arm. A few moments later, and she feels a sharp sting in the crook of her elbow. Seconds pass, and an icy feeling rushes out from the sting, enveloping the rest of her body.

She knows she should care, she knows she should be panicking, but she can't bring the emotion to the surface. Darkness tugs at her, and she surrenders gratefully. In the dark, it's safe. In the dark, someone is there to watch over her, protect her.

"You're going to be fine, Elena."

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><p>Some time has passed, but the girl is not sure how much. If she thought about it, that fact might worry her, but she has long since given up on thinking. Thoughts only lead to pain, more pain than she can bear.<p>

There are voices behind her, but she doesn't pay any attention. Nothing they say can be of any interest to her. Nothing is of any interest to her anymore.

"Sheriff Forbes, can you tell me of any family members that might need contacting?"

Liz looked across at the girl in the wheelchair. "There isn't any, not anymore. They're all gone."

"I see. So, do I take it that there is someone in charge of her welfare?"

"I am. Any questions, or problems, you can direct them to me." Liz turned to look at the doctor. "Can you tell me how long she will have to be in here?"

The doctor looked up from his clipboard, and gave the sheriff a kindly smile. "I really wish I could answer that for you. However, that will be down to Elena herself."

"Of course, I understand. When will she be allowed visitors?"

"Not for a while, I'm afraid. She needs time to settle in and acclimatise. I'll let you know when she's ready."

"Can... Can I say goodbye to her?" Liz looked back at the girl in the white room.

"Of course. I'll wait here and walk you out when you're ready." The doctor said, taking a few steps away from the door.

"Thank you." Liz walked into the sterile room and crouched down next to the girl. "I'm so sorry this happened, Elena." She sniffed, trying not to cry. "But this rest will do you good. I'll bring Bonnie and Caroline up to see you soon, okay?"

The girl didn't respond, just continued to stare vacantly at the stretch of wall in front of her. Liz sighed and stood up, running a hand down the length of lifeless hair. Then she got up and walked back to the doctor, leaving the girl alone with her thoughts.

Except the girl doesn't have any thoughts anymore. Thoughts only bring pain.

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><p>The room is cold, blank; emotionless. It reflects perfectly the current state of mind of the girl in the wheelchair. The orderlies have placed her by the window, and if she looked, she would see a beautiful garden. There are rose bushes everywhere, all in full bloom. The sun shines down brightly, bouncing off the white outside walls, making everything sparkle. Bees hum lazily as they move from flower to flower, and a slight breeze makes the stems rustle together. Orange blossom trees are planted in large terracotta pots, flanking pale pink stones that mark a meandering path through the grounds. The rays of the sun glint off the surface of a small lake, down at the bottom of a small incline; wrought iron benches are dotted everywhere the eye can see. In the distance, a maze can be seen, marked out with laurel trees. The bright white of an ornate marble centrepiece stands out in the middle of the maze. And all around the grounds, people in white wander slowly. People in white gowns are either sat in wheelchairs, or being carefully held onto as they walk for themselves. The uniforms of these helpers are also white, giving the garden an ethereal feel. These people might as well be angels, and this garden, Heaven.<p>

But the girl doesn't look through the window, and so she sees none of these things. She stares at the white wall in front of her. The white is comforting to her. If she stares hard enough at the white, memories can't get into her head, trying to make her think things. If she looked through the window, the flowers might remind her of her mother's garden. The lake might remind her of their family holiday home. The maze might remind her of the time her brother got lost in one. No, she couldn't look through the window, because then the memories would come, and they would hurt her. It's much better to not feel anything at all.

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><p>"<em>Elena, will you come out of the water please? You'll freeze to death if you stay in much longer."<em>

"_Mom, relax, I'm fine! Besides, I want to swim out to the middle; I want to see if the diving platform can still hold my weight!" Elena giggled and began a slow backstroke, away from her mother on the dock._

_Miranda pursed her lips as she looked down at her daughter. "If that old wooden thing could hold you and your friends last summer, I'm sure it can handle just you." Then she smiled. "Fine, but swim right back, okay? Your father said dinner will be ready in half an hour." She shook her head and turned away, heading back up the dock to their family lake house._

_Elena laughed and continued on with her slow swim. The setting sun had turned the fluffy clouds a pale pink, and the water around her a deep purple. She reached the diving platform and she stretched up, pulling herself over the edge. She lay down on her back, feeling the rough wood beneath her skin as she slowly dried. She loved their trips to the lake house. It was so peaceful here, so quiet. She didn't need to think when she was here._

_After a few minutes, goose bumps started to appear on her arms and legs, and Elena figured it was time to swim back to the shore. She sat up and moved to the edge, dipping her toes in the frigid water. Just as she was preparing to jump back in, the hairs on the back of her neck rose, and she started, staring around her. She had the sudden sense that she was being watched. Her eyes scanned the banks of the lake, but she could make out nothing out of the ordinary. The sun had set further as she had lain on the platform, and shadows lined the trees, making the wood seem dense and impenetrable. But for some reason she wasn't afraid. Instead, an unknown part of her yearned for the watchful presence._

_Taking a deep breath, Elena dived into the water, letting the inky blackness swallow her. Still under the water, she opened her eyes, and started. In front of her, a pair of blue eyes stared back at her. She blinked in shock, but when she opened her eyes again, the image had vanished. She struck for the surface, and as her head broke through, a whisper seemed to be carried to her on the wind._

"_Don't be scared, I'll protect you."_

_Elena looked around for the voice, but the water around her was still and silent. As she looked towards the shore, and brilliant orange light seared across her vision, and she reared back. Almost as an afterthought, the sound of an explosion reached her ears, and she paddled in place, staring in shock. Her family lake house was a burning mass of flames. A thin, high pitched noise surrounded her, the keening sound hurting her ears._

"I've tried everything, doctor. She won't stop screaming." The nurse held the girl down in the bed, trying to still the thrashing limbs.

"I think we'll have to sedate her again. Nurse Williams, could you hand me that syringe?" The doctor helped to hold down the screaming girl with one hand, using the other to push the needle into the crook of her arm. "There, she should calm down any minute."

_Horror overtook her, freezing her in place, and she began to sink back under the water. As the darkness surrounded her calm and reassuring, the voice whispered to her again. _

"_I'll find you. I promise."_

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><p>They make the girl eat breakfast. She doesn't want to, but if she doesn't, they sit so close to her, touching the spoon to her lips, trying to make her eat. They sit too close for comfort; their arms brush against her shoulder as they lean in closer. She doesn't want to be touched, touching makes her remember. So she gives in and picks up the spoon. They smile encouragingly at her, but she doesn't notice, because she won't look at them. The food has no taste. That's not true; the food tastes good, but the girl doesn't acknowledge it. If it had taste, it might remind her of something else she once ate, and that isn't allowed. Memories are sneaky things, always trying to find ways to get in and be noticed. But if the girl acknowledges nothing, they won't be able to get in.<p>

After breakfast, the girl is wheeled back to her room to get washed and dressed. The orderly tries to help her, but she flinches at her touch. The orderly hands her a pair of white drawstring pants and a white vest top. The girl likes the white. It's not as comforting as the black, but it is at least blank. She couldn't handle colours. Colours might make her remember.

Once she is dressed, the girl is taken down the hall and into a room. There are other people here, all of them dressed in white. The girl closes her eyes briefly, thankful for the lack of colour. She is led to a corner of the room and stood in front of an easel. There is a large piece of white paper there, and the girl stares at it. Something pokes at her hand, and she looks down. An orderly is pushing a paintbrush in between her fingers. She grips it reflexively, and the orderly smiles. The girl doesn't notice. The orderly gently takes her hand and guides it towards the paint pots next to her. She doesn't look at the colours. She dips the brush into the black and lifts it up to the canvas in front of her. The orderly backs away, content to watch the girl's progress.

The girl touches the brush to the paper, marring the blank whiteness with a thick streak of black. She doesn't like it. It could become a pattern, and a pattern could make her remember. She moves the brush quicker, anxious to turn the white into black, so she can stay calm and reassured. Before long, she has covered the entire canvas in black. Black is okay, because it isn't a colour, so it can't make her remember. And black comforts her. She tries to place the brush down without seeing the different coloured paint, but a pot catches her eye. It doesn't bring back a memory though, and so she is grateful. She doesn't think, because she doesn't do thinking anymore, she just dips the brush in the pot and lifts it to the black paper. She scrubs the brush round on the paper for a while, before slowly putting it down and stepping away from the easel.

"Have you finished, Elena?"

The girl doesn't reply, just gazes at the white wall in front of her. Carefully, she is led away to another corner of the room and placed in a chair. She curls up in it, resting her chin on her knees, as she continues to stare at the white wall.

The doctor sat in his chair, watching as Elena painted her first picture. Art was a big part of the healing process at the clinic; patients were able to express their thoughts without saying a word. As one of the nurses led her away, he stood up and walked over to the easel. Black streaks undulated across the paper like the waves of an ocean at night. There was only one colour used; two ovals had been painted in the centre of the black sea, the colour of blue ice. The doctor frowned as he looked at the painting, trying to decipher what it meant. He glanced over at Elena, as she sat huddled up in the chair, staring at nothing. He wondered what she was thinking.

But the girl doesn't think about anything anymore.

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><p>"<em>Jeremy! Stop playing with that!" Elena reached over and smacked at his hand.<em>

"_Your music sucks!" Jeremy's hand darted around hers and pressed the button._

_Elena pressed it back. "I don't care. My car, my choice of music. You can play your own when you know how to drive, okay?"_

_She pulled the car to the curb outside her home and turned off the engine. Jeremy got out and slammed the door behind him._

"_Hey! Now you can walk to school tomorrow!" Elena shouted through the window indignantly. Jeremy kept walking, flipping her the finger over his shoulder. Elena huffed and glared malevolently at his retreating back. She leaned over into the back seat and grabbed her bag, checking through it to make sure she had all her stuff together._

_Then she stopped and looked up. She had the feeling of being watched. She flicked her eyes up and down the street, but everything was silent. Too silent. A feeling of foreboding slunk up her spine, lodging itself in the back of her neck. Slowly, she reached out and pulled on the handle, and the door swung out silently. As she looked up at her house, the rest of the world receded into blurry indistinct lines, the front porch of her home standing out in stark relief. A breeze came out of nowhere, lifting the tendrils of hair from her shoulders._

"_Don't be scared, I'll protect you."_

_A feeling of comfort slid through her as she sat in her car, one foot placed on the sidewalk. As she revelled in the feeling, the ground beneath her trembled. She looked up in shock as the earth cracked open ahead of her, and she watched as the house in front of her collapsed in on itself, on top of her family. A high pitched noise filled her ears, and she clasped her arms around her head as rubble rained down all around her._

"I think we need to sedate her again, doctor." The nurse pulled the straps out from under the bed, tightening them around each of the flailing limbs of the girl.

"I agree." The doctor grabbed the syringe and placed it against the skin of the girl's arm. "I just wish we could find out why she keeps doing this." He pushed down on the plunger. "She'll be calm again in a moment."

_Icy cold filled Elena's limbs as she fell back against the steering wheel. Darkness swept in on her as shock overtook her senses. The slight breeze lifted her hair again as she gave in to the darkness._

"_I'll find you, I promise."_

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><p>The girl sits in a wheelchair in a white hallway. There are voices behind her, but she pays no attention. The chair moves beneath her and she is shaken slightly, as an orderly pushes her down the corridor. The white door in front of her opens, and she is pushed into the garden for the first time since she arrived here. It's not the first time, but the girl pays no attention, so for her it is. The bright glare of the sun hits her face, and she flinches, looking down. There will be colours out here, and things, things that might make her remember. So she stares down at her knees. They are covered in a white blanket. White is good. White holds no memories for the girl.<p>

The orderly pushes the girl down the meandering pink path, pointing out features as they go, but the girl doesn't listen, and doesn't look.

The doctor watched from out of his window as his newest patient was wheeled around the garden. For many patients, the garden is a place of peace and tranquillity, and many of his patients have come back to themselves a bit more each time they have been taken outside. Not Elena Gilbert though. The doctor didn't think it was possible for the girl to retreat any further inside herself, but as he watched, he saw her shoulders hunching and her head dipping lower, as if her senses were being assaulted. He needed to find a way to reach her, but so far he had been unsuccessful. Elena was going to be a hard case for him to solve.

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><p>The girl is wheeled back into her room and once again placed in front of the window. She doesn't look out, instead choosing to find a blank space of white wall to stare at. Her breathing calms and her brow relaxes. Her room is located close to the nursing station, and there are voices outside. But she doesn't listen.<p>

"Excuse me, but who are you?"

"I am the new doctor, and I'll be taking over Dr Humphrey's new patient." The man stared deep into the nurse's eyes, and her gaze unfocused.

"You're the new doctor..."

Dr Humphreys came walking down the hall. "Nurse Williams? What is going on here?"

"This is the new doctor, he'll be taking over with our new patient." The nurse replied, gesturing to the man standing next to her.

"Oh? Why wasn't I told about this?"

The man stepped closer to the doctor, locking eyes with him. "The family requested me. I am an expert in these types of cases."

Dr Humphreys stared back for a moment, before clearing his throat. "Oh, of course. My apologies, I remember now. Would you like to meet your patient, Dr...?"

"Salvatore, and yes, please."

"She's right through here." Dr Humphreys gestured to the door on his left and the man stepped into the room.

"Thank you. I will find you if I need any assistance."

Dr Humphreys nodded and stepped away from the door. He beckoned to the nurse to follow him, and they moved off down the hall to see to other patients.

The man watched them go for a moment, and then closed the door, shutting himself in the room with the girl. He moved slowly towards the wheelchair, not wanting to frighten her. He stood in front of her for a minute, his eyes scanning her body for any sign of injury, but there was none. The only injury was in her head.

He sighed and crouched down next to her, reaching out a hand to smooth her hair away from her face.

"I found you. I promised I would." He whispered to her, sliding the back of his finger down her cheek. "Don't be scared, I'll protect you."

The girl feels the touch on her cheek, but she doesn't flinch. There are no memories attached to this touch, or to this voice speaking to her. An unknown part of her sighs at the contact, and she unconsciously closes her eyes and leans into the touch. She feels comforted, more so than when she looks at the white things, more so even than when she lets the darkness envelop her. She sits there with the unknown man, his hand upon her cheek, her eyes closed in peace.

She doesn't open her eyes, but if she did, she would be looking into eyes the colour of blue ice.

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><p><strong>AN: So, there we are. As I said, it's a little bit out there, and I hope this doesn't put you off too much! Oh, and if anyone's interested, the music I was listening to was Black Veil Brides (my current obssession, and the inspiration behind one of my other stories). Anyway, I hope you liked it, and please review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm so sorry about the delay in updating this one everybody! RL has just been kind of kicking my ass these past few weeks, and then 3x14 happened and I got a bit DEpressed for a while, and nothing would come to me when I tried to sit down and write. I've got a pretty good idea where this story is headed now though, so hopefully it won't be too long before the next update!**

**A/N 2: I just wanted to quickly clarify a few things for this story: This is AU, there is no Katherine, Elena isn't a doppelganger, and although Stefan may be mentioned, we won't be seeing him in this story (because quite frankly I get bored enough watching him right now, so I don't really want to waste any more of my time writing about him too, LOL). Anyway, I hope you like this new chapter!**

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><p><em>I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real<em>  
><em> I wanna let go of the pain I've felt so long<em>  
><em> (Erase all the pain till it's gone)<em>  
><em> I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm close to something real<em>  
><em> I wanna find something I've wanted all along<em>  
><em> Somewhere I belong<em>

__(Linkin Park - Somewhere I Belong)

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><p>Liz sighed as she unclipped her holster from around her waist and removed her gun. Dropping the belt onto the hallway table, she moved over to the safe just inside the living room and placed the gun inside, locking it securely. It was a habit left from long ago, from the time when Caroline had been much younger, and much more curious about the job her mother did. These days, Liz thought it a good day when she got a greeting out of her daughter. So much was wrong with their relationship right now. It didn't help that Caroline loved anything pink and glittery; all that shimmery girly stuff just confounded Liz.<p>

This was why she found herself jumping with surprise as the front door crashed open, Caroline calling for her.

"Mom? Mom!" Caroline threw down her school backpack and ran into the living room, stopping short at the sight of her mother standing in front of her, her mouth slightly agape. "Good, you're home! Can we go see Elena?"

Liz's heart sank. It had been a fortnight since she had driven the hour over to where Elena was being looked after and watched her being settled in by the doctors. It had almost broken her heart to leave the girl there, but she knew that Elena needed help, and she wasn't going to get that in Mystic Falls General Hospital.

"I'm sorry, honey, but the doctor said he would call when she was ready for visitors." Liz watched with apprehension as the smile slid from her daughter's face, to be replaced with a frown.

"But we can't just leave her there, all alone!" Caroline stamped her foot in frustration. Surely one of the perks of having a sheriff for a mother meant that you could tell doctors where to shove their instructions? God knows, there weren't many, but that should be at least one of them.

"She's not alone, Caroline." Liz walked over to the sofa and sank down, weary over the fight she knew was about to come. "Doctor Humphreys is taking good care of her, and there are lots of nurses around her all the time. She'll be fine."

"Oh, yes, because strange doctors and nurses are always better than best friends!" Caroline huffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes at her mother's stupidity. "It's been two weeks, Mom. Two weeks! And we haven't been able to call her, or go see her. How is being shut away from her best friends supposed to help her?"

Liz sighed, and rubbed her nose with her thumb and forefinger. Sometimes she just couldn't understand how she'd made such a stubborn and unreasonable child. "I'll tell you what, I'm actually supposed to go over there this weekend. I spoke with Doctor Humphreys two days ago, and he said that she might like some of her things around her, to remind her of home." Liz looked up at Caroline. "Why don't you call Bonnie, and you can both come with me to pick out the things that she might like?"

Caroline thought for a moment. "Can we come with you when you take the stuff?"

"Maybe next time."

"Oh my God! So you're allowed to see her and I'm not? How fair is that?" Caroline's voice was quickly getting higher and higher.

"Because I'm her legal guardian, and that trumps best friend every single time." Liz said firmly, deciding that this conversation should come to an end. "Do you want to come help me pick out some things for Elena, or not?"

Caroline huffed again, and reached into her pocket for her phone. "I guess we'll have to. There's no way you could pick out anything she would want. You'd have to actually be interested in teenage girls to be able to do that."

She flounced out of the room before Liz could respond, hitting speed dial to call Bonnie. Liz opened her mouth to say something back, but closed it again as she realised that she had no idea what she would actually say.

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><p>"So, what's going to happen with the house?" Bonnie ran her finger across the dresser in the hallway of the Gilbert home. Her eyes drifted to a picture of herself and Caroline a few years ago, their arms slung around Elena's waist. All three of the girls looked so happy, laughing with each other out in Elena's backyard while Mr Gilbert took photos. If it weren't for the fact that the house now felt so empty, she would have thought the last few months had been a nightmare.<p>

"What do you mean?" Caroline paused on her way up the stairs and looked around her. "This is Elena's home, nothing's going to happen to it, right?" She looked to her mom for confirmation.

Liz shut the door behind her, opening up the bag she had brought with her. "Nothing's going to happen to it right now, girls. According to the will, Elena gets to live in it until she turns twenty-one, and then she can decide what she wants to do with it after that." Her eyes fell on a picture of Miranda sitting with her younger sister. "Although, her aunt Jenna was supposed to live here with her until then, so I guess we might have to think some things through about the near future."

"I just can't believe all this has happened to her," Bonnie whispered, almost to herself. She stood in the doorway to the living room, staring around her as memories of her childhood flicked through her mind like snap shots. The sofa cushions that the three of them used to have pillow fights with; the crack in the ceiling paint from where they had once bounced a ball too hard; the coffee table that they had once fallen over when they were laughing so hard they couldn't see where they were going. In fact, if she thought about it, this room held more memories for Bonnie than her own house. Her own mom had left long ago, her Grams was a drunk and her dad worked long hours, and the Gilberts had almost adopted her. She had stayed over here almost every weekend since they had all started high school together. It was the same for Caroline – both of them had found a family here with the Gilberts. Now suddenly it had all been stripped away. Even just looking at the pile of video games that Jeremy would never play again, the kitchen that Grayson would never cook in, and the photos that Miranda would no longer fill the house with, made Bonnie's heart ache with loss. She couldn't even imagine how much more it hurt Elena. It seemed like such an insurmountable amount of grief for one person to get over. "What if she never comes back to us?" She whispered again, tears pooling in her eyes.

"What are you talking about Bonnie?" Caroline rolled her eyes dramatically. "She'll come back when she's better! What do you think she's going to do, go off on a round-the-world trip when this is over?" She tossed her blond hair over her shoulder and flounced up the stairs, her mother following her with the bag.

"That's not what I meant," Bonnie mumbled to herself, wiping her eyes and moving slowly to the staircase. She tried not to look at the pictures adorning the walls as she mounted the steps, not wanting to see all the happy memories smiling down at her, not needing the reminder that those people will never smile again. Maybe even Elena.

As she entered Elena's room, she clenched her teeth against the surge of despair that threatened to overwhelm her senses. So many of her own happy memories were intertwined with this room.

"So, she'll need clothes, right?" Caroline was busy rummaging through the wardrobe, picking out dresses and scarves.

"I don't think she'll be going to all that many cocktail parties, Caroline." Liz took the hanger from her daughter and replaced the orange and pink dress back in the wardrobe.

Bonnie went to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer. She grabbed a handful of underwear and a couple of sets of pyjamas and handed them to Liz, who packed them in the bag.

"Well, in that case, she'll want her jeans," Caroline nodded decisively and pulled out three pairs of identical jeans from the wardrobe. "Oh, and she'll want her ballet flats, too." She leaned down and pulled out two pairs of shoes.

"Caroline, I was thinking more along the lines of essentials and keepsakes, not the entire contents of her wardrobe." Liz sighed and moved into the bathroom.

"Cute outfits _are_ essential!" Caroline looked scandalised at Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded solemnly, being careful not to roll her eyes until she had turned away. She pulled down the collection of small photos placed around the edge of the mirror. Searching for an envelope on the desk, she gathered them into a small pile and placed them inside a pocket on the bag, zipping it closed carefully.

Liz returned with a wash bag full of Elena's favourite shampoo and put it in with the clothes. "Right, is that everything?" She asked the two teenage girls.

"She should have this," Bonnie held out the teddy that held pride of place on Elena's pillows. It had been a gift from her father after a trip on a medical conference.

"And this," Caroline said, unusually quietly. She stood by the bedside table, holding out a leather bound book. "Her journal. She should have this. It might help her."

Liz took the journal and the teddy and placed them inside the bag, zipping it up and putting it over her shoulder. "I'm going to go take this to the hospital now. Caroline, do you need me to drive you home?"

"It's okay, Sheriff, I can drive her," Bonnie smiled at Liz. "Tell Elena we miss her, okay?"

"I will. Just make sure you lock up when you leave, girls." Liz left them alone, walking down the stairs.

Caroline moved over to the window and sank down onto the seat beneath it, resting her head against the glass. She looked at Bonnie, her eyes shining with tears, and Bonnie moved over to sit with her. Together they sat, holding each other as they cried for the girl they loved, the girl who had lost everything. Including herself.

* * *

><p>The girl sits in the chair with her eyes still closed. The hand on her cheek, slowly stroking her skin, makes her feel peaceful. She feels comforted, and relaxed. For the first time in as long as she can remember (with isn't all that long), she can feel the tension in her body receding. The wall that she has built up in her mind dissolves slightly, because with this hand on her cheek, and the soft voice accompanying it, she doesn't need a barrier of her own making. The hand and the voice keep the pain away for her, so she can finally relax. She sighs softly, as her face, usually carefully composed into a neutral expression, forms itself into a small smile.<p>

"I'm here, Elena. I'm here now. I'm so sorry." The voice, unknown but yet so familiar, whispers to her, and she finds herself nodding along to the cadence of it. She is relaxed, at peace, the hand and the voice soothing her. But then abruptly, the hand is taken away, and the tension returns.

* * *

><p>Damon heard the voices from down the hall, and he stood up quickly and grabbed the chart from the bottom of the bed, hoping to look like he belonged here. Compulsion would not work on this visitor.<p>

"Dr Humphreys, I have Elena's things with me. Would it be okay for me to see her?" The sheriff's voice floated down the hallway.

"I'm sure it won't be a problem, Sheriff Forbes, but you'll have to check with Elena's doctor first."

"What do you mean? I thought you were her doctor?"

"I was, but another doctor has been asked to step in. I'm sorry, I have other patients to see to, maybe the nurse can help you further?"

The doctor's footsteps receded down the hallway, but instead of staying by the nurses' station, the sheriff started heading towards Elena's room. Damon looked out of the window quickly, and shook his head in frustration. Too many people would see him go out that way, and not nearly enough of them were insane enough to dismiss it. He sighed. He knew he would be found here sooner or later. He had just hoped it would be later.

Liz rounded the door of Elena's room, and stopped short at the sight of the man in front of her. "Mr Salvatore? What are you doing here?" She frowned, taking in the white lab coat, incongruous against the black jeans, black t-shirt and black leather boots beneath it.

"It's Dr Salvatore, actually, but you can call me Damon, Sheriff." Damon smiled his most disarming smile at her, breathing a silent sigh of relief as he noticed her relax slightly.

"You're Elena's new doctor? Zach didn't tell me you were a doctor." Liz smiled back hesitantly, clearly flustered.

"Well, Uncle Zach's not one to brag," Damon flipped the chart closed and hung it back on the end of the bed. "Are you here visiting?"

"Uh, yeah." Liz shook her head slightly to clear it. "I've brought her some things from home, to help her settle in more." She held up the bag as evidence.

"What a good idea. Just leave it in the corner there, and one of the nurses can unpack it for her." Damon gestured towards the corner of the room and slipped through the doorway, trying not to walk too quickly in his haste to get away.

"Dr Salvatore, I mean, Damon!" Liz called at his retreating back.

Cursing silently, Damon pasted a smile on his face and turned to look at the woman as she came up to him. "Yes, Sheriff?"

"Do you think..." Liz cut off, then tried again. "When do you think she will be ready for some visitors?"

Damon looked back at the sheriff, working through his options. He couldn't compel her, that much he knew. He had spent enough time in Mystic Falls over the past decades to know that the Council was still very much up and running. He couldn't keep everyone away from Elena forever, and he couldn't just disappear with her either. Well, he could, but then she probably wouldn't get any better, and for some reason that he still couldn't put his finger on, he needed her to get better. He needed _her_.

"Maybe in a few weeks," he said slowly, nodding his head in thought. "She should really get used to her surroundings first, I'm sure you understand." He turned away again, and walked off before she could call him back again.

As he drove back to Mystic Falls, Damon mulled over his current situation, trying to think what to do. He probably could have run back faster, but driving helped him to think. Besides, he wasn't going to leave his Camaro parked outside the hospital. Who knew what might happen to it.

Mystic Falls was one of the few places on earth that it wasn't safe for a vampire to be. He had visited his previous home several times during the decades, and had noticed the signs that the council had been passing down the story of events from generation to generation, making sure that the knowledge of vampires was never forgotten. He should really avoid this town like the plague, but for some reason, he felt a pull towards the place where he had drawn his last human breath. It had always been there, under the surface, as he had wandered through countries, but the feeling had become more insistent over the past couple of decades, and he had found himself revisiting his home much more frequently than before. It was during one of these trips back home a few months previously that he had first bumped into Elena Gilbert. Forcing the car to go as fast as it was able, he let his mind wander back to their first meeting.

* * *

><p><em>He could smell the pheromones from miles away. Lust filled teenagers, out by the waterfalls, making the most of their parent-free time and the hot summer sun. From half a mile away, he could sense at least a dozen of them; the scent of sunscreen mixed with cherry lip gloss floated to him on the breeze. He smiled, and let his vampire visage take over, the promise of a good meal making his fangs ache with anticipation. As quiet as a ghost, he crept towards the unsuspecting group of teenagers. Should he have them all? Or see if he could lure a couple away, leave the rest for another time?<em>

_The decision was made for him, as the sound of a couple arguing came to him from a little clearing in the trees, away from the rest of the partiers. He headed in their direction, looking through the trees. He saw a young couple standing in the clearing, a girl with waist length dark hair, facing a blond boy with blue eyes. The girl had her back to him, so he couldn't see her face, but he could tell by the cadence of her voice that she wasn't as happy as the other kids out here. He crept closer, curiosity making him want to hear the conversation going on in front of him. Before he ripped their throats out, anyway._

"_What does that even mean?" The boy asked earnestly, his blond eyebrows furrowing in confusion._

"_It means exactly that, Matt," the girl replied with a sigh in her voice. "I just don't think we work together anymore. I think we were better as friends." _

_She lifted a hand to push her hair behind her ears, and the movement caused her scent to waft over to Damon. The scent was oddly familiar, even though he could tell that he had never been near this girl in his life. He frowned, the need to kill suddenly replaced with a burning desire to see the girl's face. Who was she?_

"_I don't understand. I thought we were happy together." The boy, Matt, began pacing a little, running his hands through his hair in agitation. "You can't just want to break up with me! Elena I love you!"_

_Elena sighed and looked down at the forest floor. "I love you too, Matt, it's just, I don't think I love you in that way." She looked up and took a step closer to him. "And I don't think you do either."_

"_So, that's it? There's nothing I can say to make you change your mind?"_

_Elena shook her head. "I'm sorry, Matt, I really am..."_

"_Whatever, Elena." Matt cut across her, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You can ask Caroline for a ride home. I'm sure you understand why." He walked away, bumping into her as he passed her, spinning her around on the spot._

_And that's when Damon finally saw her. She stood gazing after her boyfriend, sadness and regret shining out of her chocolate brown eyes. She bit her lip and leaned against a tree, squeezing her eyes shut as she ran a hand through her hazelnut coloured locks. Damon had never seen anyone more beautiful in all his long years of existence. He had seen beauty before, of course, but for some reason, this girl did not bring out the blood lust in him. Instead of wanting to rip her throat out and drink greedily, he found himself wanting to protect her. He had a sudden yearning to see this girl smile, and he couldn't understand why. Who was this girl?_

_He had to find out. He waited in the shadows of the trees while she leaned there, her eyes still closed. He watched as she took a deep breath and stood up straight, blowing the air through her perfectly formed lips. She took a step forward, and Damon took his chance, blurring into her path before she had a chance to even notice him. She bumped into his chest and looked up in surprise._

_Damon tried to ignore the jolt of electricity that shivered through him as he looked deep into her eyes, letting his compulsion out. _

"_What's your name?" He asked, watching as her pupils dilated and her body relaxed slightly._

"_Elena Gilbert," she replied in a monotone._

_He started at her name; it was a Founding Family name, one of those on the Council. But he had managed to compel her, so she wasn't taking any vervain. The Council had obviously become more relaxed recently._

"_What are you?" He asked, unable to fathom why he wasn't just draining her dry._

"_I'm... I'm human?" She said, her confusion making her statement sound like a question._

_Damon regarded her for a moment, taking the opportunity to regard her more thoroughly. Up close she was even more beautiful; her olive skin was completely flawless, her brown eyes bright and clear, her hair shining even in the shade of the trees. He sighed. He really should want to bite her, but for some reason he couldn't seem to make himself._

"_You won't remember this conversation." He told her, stepping back slightly._

"_I won't remember," she intoned, looking back at him without really seeing him, the compulsion in full effect. She wasn't the first human he had compelled, but for the first time in a long time, he found himself wanting to be seen._

_He blurred away back into the trees, and watched as she came back to herself and looked around her. She shrugged, and moved off through the trees, back to the rest of her friends by the waterfall. Damon watched her go, his hunger from a few moments ago all but forgotten._

* * *

><p>Damon pulled the Camaro into the driveway of the Boarding House, his lips twitching up into a smirk as he watched a curtain in an upstairs bedroom being quickly pulled back into place. Looked like Uncle Zach wasn't too pleased to have his favourite 'nephew' back to stay. He got out of the car and walked up to the front door, listening to the sound of Zach's footsteps as he came to meet him. The door opened as he approached it, and Zach Salvatore looked at him, apprehension rolling off him in waves.<p>

Damon smirked at him and pushed past, walking straight into the parlour and his favourite bourbon he kept stashed there. He didn't really understand why Zach was so afraid of him; he very rarely hunted in Mystic Falls, as he knew the danger that posed to himself if the Council got wind of any attacks. Nonetheless, he found it amusing, and so he never sought to put Zach at ease.

"Back so soon?" Zach asked tremulously, having followed Damon into the parlour, standing uneasily just inside the doorway. "It's only been a few weeks since your last visit."

"I didn't get a chance to do the whole tour last time," Damon said, pouring himself a generous measure of whiskey.

"You've been coming back more frequently recently," Zach observed, his fear making his voice wobble slightly.

"Well, this is my house, Zachy boy, I can come here whenever I feel like it." Damon downed the first shot and poured himself another.

Zach took a deep breath and stood up straighter. "Of course you can. I was just wondering..." He trailed off, his courage failing him.

"Wondering what? Come on, spit it out. Purge, you know you want to." Damon smirked again and picked up the bottle, taking it with him as he settled into a chair by the fire.

Zach watched his movements from across the room; his tongue darted out to moisten his dry lips. "Why are you here, Damon?" He asked finally, the words tumbling out of him in a rush.

Damon considered his question for a moment, staring at the amber liquid in front of him. "Maybe I've decided it's time I set down some roots," he said thoughtfully, taking a long swig from the bottle. "And what better place to do that than in the town where I'm supposed to be already buried?" he turned his head and smirked up at the other man, his smile widening as he saw the discomfited look on Zach's face. "Don't worry, Zachy boy, as soon as there's something to know, I promise you'll be the first to know it." He stood up and walked out of the room, clapping his hand on the shoulder of the cowering man as he passed him. He took the bottle of whiskey up to his room and lay down on the bed. He needed to think about what to do for Elena.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So there we go, a little back story for you. There'll be more revealed in the next few chapters. I hope you liked it, and please review?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, just to let you know, I've changed up how Elena's parents died, so unlike the dreams in the first chapter, this is what actually happened. I hope this doesn't confuse too many of you, but I wanted to describe the accident, but without having Stefan there (because, you know, yawn), and this was the best way I could think of doing it. I hope you like it!**

* * *

><p><em>Let me be the one you call<em>  
><em> If you jump I'll break your fall<em>  
><em> Lift you up and fly away with you into the night<em>  
><em> If you need to fall apart<em>  
><em> I can mend a broken heart<em>  
><em> If you need to crash then crash and burn<em>  
><em> You're not alone<em>

__(Savage Garden - Crash and Burn)

* * *

><p>The girl sits in the wheelchair in her room, staring at the white wall in front of her. The colour isn't as peaceful to her as it once was, however. Now she craves a different colour, because that colour is the only thing that can help her truly feel at peace. The white that she used to find comfort in now just makes her feel empty, and she is beginning to realise that this isn't how she should feel. She should be feeling <em>something, <em>and there is only one colour that can do that for her, that can make her feel less empty. It's the colour of blue fire.

* * *

><p>Damon parked his car outside the hospital and stepped out onto the asphalt, reaching behind him to grab the stolen lab coat from the backseat. He had been coming here for a week now, and yet there had been no real improvement, at least nothing worthy of celebration. He caught the slight smile that graced her lips as soon as she heard his voice, and the way her body relaxed as soon as he touched her. But she was yet to make any eye contact with him, and she still hadn't spoken so much as a word since she had been brought in. He was starting to feel as though he wasn't actually doing her much good. Maybe he should just let the real doctors look after her. It was something he thought about every day on his drive up to the hospital, but he couldn't make himself walk away. There was something inside him, telling him that she needed him, just <em>him.<em> He couldn't walk away from that feeling. He'd never been needed before, not really.

His thick soled boots echoed off the sickly green walls of the hallway as he made his way down to her room. Over the past week, his morning routine had become just that; a routine. He got up, had a coffee and a blood bag, got dressed and drove over to spend the day with her. Sometimes he would wheel her down in her chair so that she could join in with the activities, while he would sit and watch her, mulling over his options. But most of the time, he would sit in her room with her, holding her hand while he read out sections of the journal the Sheriff had brought to her. Part of him hoped that hearing her own words spoken out loud would get her to open up a bit, but the bigger, more selfish part of him just wanted to get to know her better. He knew her well enough to know that if she knew he was reading her diary, she would flip out on him. But, he also knew her well enough to know that he found it completely arousing when she got angry, so as far as he was concerned, it was a win-win.

He rounded the corner and found her, sitting where she always was every morning, her hair slightly fuzzy from where the orderlies had helped dress her. He moved into the room and crossed to her bedside table, picking up her brush.

"Morning," he said quietly, watching for the moment her lips would twitch up slightly at the sound of his voice. Even though it happened every morning, it still gave him a thrill. That little smile told him that she was still in there, somewhere.

He sat down on the bed behind her and lifted the brush to her hair, watching as her eyes closed peacefully at the first downward stroke. He brushed her hair slowly, going over and over it, until it had the same glossy sheen that he had been so captured with the first time he saw her. After a while, he heard a soft humming noise, and he looked back at her face to see her smiling, her eyes closed, as she hummed tunelessly to the rhythm of his brush strokes.

He placed the brush back on the night stand and picked up the leather bound journal. Moving over to the visitor chair, he put his feet up on the window sill and leaned back, reaching over to clasp her fingers in his. Then he pulled on the ribbon that was holding his place, and opened the journal, reading aloud Elena's thoughts, hoping to hear some sign of recognition from the quiet girl beside him.

* * *

><p><em>March 13<em>_th__, Wednesday._

_I keep feeling like there's something missing. Logically, I have everything I need. I have two great parents, an annoying brother who isn't actually all that annoying, two of the greatest best friends a girl could ask for, and a fantastic boyfriend. How could anything be missing? But still, I can't make the feeling go away, no matter how many times I tell myself that my life couldn't get more perfect. Because really, it couldn't._

_I think the problem is Matt. Not that he's a problem, because he isn't; he's perfect. But maybe that's the problem? I don't know, I just feel as though everything is too easy, somehow. Like, if I don't have to work at something, how can I enjoy it? It sounds weird, comparing my love life to a meal, but I enjoy eating so much more after doing something really physical, like cheerleading practise. But with Matt, there's no conflict, no arguing, no... passion. Maybe that's what's missing._

_It's not that I don't love him; I do. But I think it's more like I love him as a friend, like I love Caroline, and Bonnie. We were always such good friends, and I think those feelings kind of got crossed somewhere along the way. Maybe I should break up with him, at least for a while. After all, it's not really fair to him, is it? If I don't feel the same way, then he has the right to know that. It sounds like I'm justifying myself, but I can't help the way I feel._

_I'll wait until after the weekend though. We're all going down to the falls on Saturday, and I don't want to ruin everyone's fun. Caroline would kill me._

Damon smirked slightly as he read the last few sentences out loud. The weekend hadn't remained unscathed after all; he had witnessed the break up in the woods. He flipped the page to the next entry, wanting to know what it was that had made her risk the wrath of Caroline. He squeezed her fingers slightly, hoping to feel some pressure back, but there was nothing, just the continued half smile pulling at her lips. He sighed quietly, and turned his attention back to the book in his hand.

* * *

><p><em>March 16<em>_th__, Saturday._

_I messed up. Well, not really messed up as in done something awful, although Caroline seems to think it is. I broke up with Matt. While we were out at the falls. I know I promised myself I would wait until after the weekend, but I just couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't pretend to be part of a happy couple for a second longer. I don't even know what came over me. One moment we were all sitting in the sun, laughing at Tyler trying to do cheerleading handstands, and the next, I felt this weird pull towards the trees. I've never felt anything like it; it was as though all of my senses just started screaming at me, telling me that what I was looking for wasn't out in the sun with my friends, but there in the shadows of the trees._

_I tried to sneak off on my own, but Matt saw me leave and he followed me. I know he was only looking after me, but in that moment, I just felt so stifled by him. So I told him I didn't want to be with him anymore. I just blurted it out. I didn't mean to tell him that way, and I definitely wasn't planning on telling him while we were all out together, but I couldn't help it. He tried to get me to change my mind, but I knew that once I had said it, I couldn't go back. I might not have said it the way I meant to, but that doesn't mean I didn't mean it._

_The really weird thing was, that once we broke up and Matt left me, I didn't feel that pull towards the forest anymore. It was just gone. Maybe my mind had just decided that it was the right time to say it. It's the only explanation I can think of._

Damon frowned down at the words on the page, the letters running together as though fighting to take their place on the page.

"Why would you want to go in the woods, Elena?" He asked out loud, but not really expecting a response. And he didn't get one, but as he peered at her closely, he could have sworn he saw her half smile get just shade brighter.

_What the hell is going on here?_ He mused to himself, staring out the window without taking anything in. Was there a connection between him and Elena that he didn't know about? Was it just coincidence that he had decided to go hunting in the woods near the falls that day? He didn't normally hunt in Mystic Falls at all when he came to visit, instead choosing to subsist on blood bags. But that day, a need to hunt had come over him so powerfully. And yet, once he'd met Elena in that clearing, that need had vanished, and he had gone back to the Boarding House without feeding on anyone. It was as though that pull to be out there had just... gone.

He didn't know what was going on, but there had to be something. There had to be a reason for why he suddenly found himself coming back here more and more frequently; why he felt the need to go into the woods that day; why he felt this need to protect Elena; why it felt as though his long still heart was actually beating again whenever he was close to her; why she felt the need to go into the woods at the exact time he was there. There had to be something going on, because all of this was just too much to be just coincidence.

He turned the thoughts over and over in his mind while he stared out the window, his thumb rubbing circles absentmindedly on the back of Elena's hand. He would have to find someone who could help him. An idea came to him, and he glanced down at the quiet girl next to him, a look of serenity still on her face. He would wait until tonight, and then he would drive down to Atlanta, to see Bree. Maybe she could help him understand what was going on. He turned his attention back to the journal, and flipped to the next page.

* * *

><p><em>March 17<em>_th__, Sunday._

_It's 4 am in the morning, but I just had to get up and write down the dream I just had. I don't want to forget it, even though it's kind of scary. In my dream I was standing outside the old Salvatore Boarding House. I don't know why I would dream about that place now; I haven't been there since we were all kids. I remember the last time. Caroline had convinced me and Bonnie to go and peek in through the windows. Only old Zach Salvatore has ever lived there, that we know of anyway. I don't even know why it's still called a boarding house; nobody has ever stayed there for as long as I can remember. I remember peeking in through the diamond leaded windows, and seeing a lot of old wooden panelling, like the place hadn't been decorated for a hundred years. Then Mr Salvatore came running out of the front door, shouting at us to leave, to never come back. I remember he said something about it not being safe. We were all so scared, that none of us have been back there since, so I don't know why I would have dreamt about it tonight._

_But I was there, standing in the driveway, looking up at one of the rooms on the top floor, as though I was waiting for something. Then, I turned around and walked into the woods. I kept on walking, until the woods around the house turned into the woods near the falls, and I ended up in the clearing where I broke up with Matt._

_I stood there for a while, listening to the wind as it swept my hair off my face, and then suddenly, from behind, I heard my name being whispered. It's strange, writing it down makes it seem a lot more scary than it actually was. Because I wasn't scared, at all. I heard my name, and I turned around, but nobody was there. I closed my eyes, trying to hear the voice again, and when I opened them, I saw something, and this was the strangest part of the dream. I was looking into a pair of eyes, the bluest I have ever seen._

_What does any of this mean?_

Damon sat up so quickly that the book slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor. It was disconcerting enough that he remembered feeling as though someone had been standing outside his bedroom window that night, but what was even more strange, was that even though he had successfully compelled her that day, she still seemed to have some kind of leftover memory of him.

_How was that possible?_

Ignoring the fallen book at his feet, he twisted out of his chair and knelt down in front of Elena, reaching up to caress her cheek.

"Elena? Do you remember me?"

Even though he desperately needed her to say something, he knew she wouldn't. And she didn't. But what she did do shocked him enough to make him fall back as he stared at her.

"Screw waiting for tonight, I need to go. Right fucking now." He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on her forehead, before jumping to his feet and racing towards his car.

Because for the first time in weeks, Elena Gilbert had lifted her head and looked him in the eye.

* * *

><p>He was already halfway to Atlanta before Damon wondered whether he should have looked through the rest of the journal, to see if Elena had any other memories of him. After all, that hadn't been the only time they had met and he had compelled her to forget.<p>

After that first encounter, Damon hadn't been able to get the image of her out of his head; the way her hair slid over her shoulders as she moved; how her naturally tanned skin seemed to glow golden; how her eyes seemed to shine with hidden knowledge and as yet unplumbed depths. He had dreamed of her almost every night since that moment; imagined the feel of her impossibly long legs wrapped around his waist; imagined the feel of her skin gliding over his; imagined her voice sighing his name as she came for him.

So he had found himself making excuses for being wherever she was, whenever she was alone. It didn't happen often; she was almost constantly surrounded by either her family or friends, or she was in crowded places, where he couldn't approach her. He found himself stalking her, which repulsed him slightly, because he never was one to beg for attention, but for some reason he couldn't keep away.

The second time they met, about a week after their encounter in the woods, she had been walking home from the Mystic Grill, the only bar-cum-restaurant in town. He hadn't liked the idea of her walking home alone; she seemed the type to attract trouble wherever she went; after all, she had attracted him. So he had followed her, with no other thought in mind than to just make sure she arrived home safely. But she had surprised him. She had stopped under a streetlight and raised her head, looking all around her, searching for something.

"You can come out, you know. I know you're there." She had called out into the darkness. Damon had stopped for a moment, looking incredulously at her from the shadows. He knew for a fact that they were the only two people on the street at that moment, so she must be talking to him. But how could she know he was there? He was a predator; the whole point of a stalking vampire was that the intended target _didn't _know he was there until it was too late.

He had hesitated for a moment, then stepped out into the light. She had turned towards him and looked him up and down, smiling slightly as her eyes made contact with his.

"I saw you earlier. At the Grill," she explained, as she noticed his eyebrows rise slightly. "You were at the bar for most of the night." She took a step towards him. "Did you drink so much that you forgot your way home?" She teased him lightly, her smile reflected in her eyes.

"Not likely," Damon had replied, once he had found his voice again. "I just saw you were walking home alone, and thought I'd follow to make sure you got home safely. Just being a good Samaritan, and all that."

She gave him a look that said she saw through that remark immediately, and he gulped slightly. _Who was this girl?_

"You know, stalking is kind of creepy." She raised her eyebrow at him. "Plus, I know the sheriff, I'm pretty sure I could get you arrested for it." Her tone was serious, but there was a small smile playing at the edge of her lips.

Damon took the invitation. "Well, what if I walk with you? It wouldn't be considered stalking then, would it?"

She took a moment before answering, adjusting the bag on her shoulder and tucking her hair behind her ears. "Something tells me you're not usually this nice," she said eventually.

"Just trying not to get arrested, that's all. A totally selfish plan."

She had smiled at that, and turned to go, looking back over her shoulder as she waited for him to catch up to her. "I'm Elena," she said, holding her hand out in front of her.

"Damon." He took her proffered hand, turning it over and bringing it up to his lips. As soon as his skin made contact with hers, a crackle of electricity ran through his entire body, and he looked up quickly to see if she had felt the same. Her eyes were wide, and her lips slightly parted, as though from a silent gasp. He let her hand fall down to her side and turned away.

They walked in silence for a while, Damon with his hands shoved in his jeans pockets, Elena with her arms wrapped tightly around her chest. She had been wearing a dark blue camisole top and a denim mini skirt. Damon had looked down and noticed that she was shivering slightly. He shrugged out of his leather jacket and draped it over her shoulders, receiving a grateful smile in return. He had hated how ridiculously pleased that little smile made him.

Once they had reached the path to her door, Elena had stopped and turned to him. "Thanks for making sure I got home safe," she said softly, smiling gently at him. "You didn't really need to, it's quite a safe town, really."

Damon had smirked at that. Mystic Falls had never been safe.

He had been planning on just walking away. There had been no need to take this memory from her; he had said and done nothing that would make her suspect he was anything other than a normal human guy. But then she slipped his jacket from her shoulders. She smoothed the leather out beneath her fingers, and was just about to hand it back to him, when she stopped suddenly, and pulled the fabric closer to her face, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Have we met before?" She asked, breathing in the smell of the leather, and undoubtedly his cologne. "This scent is so familiar..."

And Damon had panicked. There had been no reason for him to, not really. He could have just as easily brushed it all off with a simple explanation. But he couldn't think of one, and so he did the only thing he could think of.

"Elena," he breathed, and waited for her to look up at him. "You will not remember this. You walked home from the Grill on your own."

"I walked home on my own," she intoned, her pupils dilated as the compulsion worked on her.

And then he had vanished, blurred away into the darkness before he could do anything else. He knew he should keep away from her, this second encounter told him that. He still had no idea why he didn't want to kill her. He didn't know why he felt the need to protect her. And he didn't know why every time he looked into her eyes, a sense of peace flooded through him. It felt like coming home. That's why he couldn't walk away.

* * *

><p><em>The party had been fun, and Elena was feeling happily drunk as she weaved her way through the crowd of partying teenagers. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she saw the blond hair that she had been looking for.<em>

"_There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!"_

"_Me?" Caroline screeched indignantly. "You're the one who just took off! You scared me to death! Where did you go?"_

_Elena shrugged. "Just into the woods for a bit. The fire was making me feel too hot. Why is there a fire anyway? It's May, for God's sake!"_

"_Well, you know Tyler; he's a bit of a pyro. Anyway," Caroline looped her arm through Elena's and pulled her away towards the road. "You have to promise not to get angry with me, okay?"_

"_Angry? Care, why would I get angry at you?" Elena laughed at her friend as she swayed on the spot. Her laughter died as her eyes caught on the car they were making their way towards, and the very annoyed man leaning against it. "Caroline! You called my Dad? Why?"_

"_I didn't, Bonnie did! She got all nervous that something might have happened to you when you disappeared. I'm sorry, Elena!"_

_Elena groaned. She was going to be in so much trouble. They reached the car, and Elena peered blearily at her father._

_Grayson sighed as he took in her appearance. "How much have you drunk tonight, Elena?"_

"_She's only had a few beers, Mr Gilbert," Bonnie said, appearing on the other side of Caroline. "I'm sorry, 'Lena, I just got worried when I couldn't find you." She bit her lip nervously._

_Elena looked at her friend and smiled. "S'okay, Bon, you were just trying to look out for me."_

"_Get in the car, Elena. We can talk about your punishment tomorrow." Grayson pulled open the back door and gestured for his daughter to get in. "Hopefully we can manage it just when your hangover kicks in, just for fun." He shut the door behind Elena and turned to the other two girls. "I would offer you both a ride home too, but I've only got room in the car for one of you."_

"_That's okay, Mr Gilbert, Matt's going to give us a ride home." Caroline smiled sweetly and waved into the car at Elena's mom._

"_Matt hasn't been drinking, don't worry," Bonnie confirmed, eager to show Mr Gilbert that they were at least capable of behaving responsibly._

_Grayson nodded and opened his own door. "Don't be out too much later then, and tell Matt to be careful driving on the roads, there's a lot of wet leaves around."_

_The girls waved as they watched the car drive off._

"_So, how bad is it?" Miranda turned round in the front seat to look at her daughter. "Are we going to have to pull over for you to throw up at all?" _

"_Eww! You'd better not throw up on me!" Jeremy pushed his sister and tried to get as far away from her as the back seat would allow._

"_I'm not going to be sick, I promise!" Elena punched Jeremy in the shoulder and looked at her mother. "I haven't even drunk too much, Bonnie just freaked out when she couldn't find me, that's all."_

_Miranda sighed. "How many times do we have to tell you? If you're going to drink, at least do it responsibly. Make sure you're within reach of home, and make sure that one of you stays sober."_

"_I know, I know."_

"_This is serious, Elena." Grayson joined in, peering through the windscreen at the darkened road in front of him. "We trust all three of you to look after each other. You can't just go wandering off whenever you feel like it, especially when you've been drinking. If you continue to abuse that trust, then we may have to rethink how lenient we are with you."_

"_I know, Dad, I get it, I'm sorry, okay? It won't happen again." Elena tried to lean her spinning head on Jeremy's shoulder, but he threw her off, and she bounced back to rest against the window._

"_Just make sure that it doesn't." Miranda stated firmly, the twinkle in her eye undermining her irritation._

_Elena looked back at her mother with a small smile on her face, as a bright light illuminated Miranda's strands of hair from behind, casting shadows across the car._

"_Jesus!" Grayson cried out, and the car suddenly swerved wildly, causing Elena's head to smack hard against the window frame._

_And then Elena's world exploded around her._

_The first thing she felt was the way her hair wrapped around her face. Then she felt sharp stings across her bare arms and legs, followed by the after burn as the blood started to well up. Then she felt the door handle as it pressed into her lower back, her body pressed flush against the door as the car swung around in circles. A huge jolt, and she was slammed back against the handle harder, and she heard more than felt, even above the cacophony of screeching metal and blaring horns, a loud crack. Then suddenly the door behind her disappeared, and she flew through the air, landing and rolling across the gravel and wet leaves that littered the road beneath her. A few more loud bangs and screeches, and then the night became quiet._

_She must have blacked out for a moment, because when she came to, Elena found herself lying in the middle of the road, her body slick and sticky with blood. Her breaths came in ragged gasps, ripping through her mouth without seeming to make their way down to her lungs. Whimpering, she lifted her head off the ground, her fingers scrabbling through the loose stones for purchase. Wincing, she wrenched open her eyes and looked around her._

_The first thing she saw was a truck, lying on its side, its bright headlights illuminating the trees lining the side of the road. The beams were so bright, that for a moment she couldn't focus on anything else; it was as though the world outside of those twin spheres of light had just disappeared. Slowly, too slowly, her eyes adjusted, and she could make out a disfigured shape lying crumpled against the side of the truck. She squinted, and then gasped. It was her family car, twisted and bent into something unrecognisable._

_Without thinking, she tried to pull herself up from the floor, but her legs wouldn't move. The pain in her back was so intense that it threatened to make her pass out again, and she screamed in terror and frustration._

"_Elena? Elena!" The shout came from somewhere behind her, and moments later someone dropped to their knees in front of her. "Elena, are you okay?" Hands trembled around her face, pulling her hair out of her eyes and smoothing it over her shoulder._

_She didn't think about how this stranger knew her name; she just focused on how his voice seemed to calm her, and she was finally able to take deeper breaths._

"_My Mom, Dad, and Jeremy..." She whispered, looking in the direction of mangled metal, watching as smoke issued up out of the wreckage._

_The man stood up and walked towards the car, but before he could get there, an explosion rocked the ground Elena was lying on. Before she knew what was happening, hands were threaded beneath her, and she was lifted up and towards the trees, faster than she thought could be possible. As the man lay her back down gently on the grass verge, her head turned towards what was once her car._

"_NO!" She screamed the word, staring in disbelief at the flames that engulfed both the truck and her car._

"_Elena, shh, it's going to be okay, you're going to be okay." The man whispered to her, his hand cupping her face, his thumb rubbing soothing circles along her cheekbone. "You're hurt. I need you to trust me, okay?"_

_Elena looked at the man and nodded. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw veins pop out above his cheeks, and the whites of his eyes turned red, but she was too numb to really register the wrongness of it. He turned his face away and brought his wrist up to his mouth, then leaned over her, pressing the same area against her own lips._

"_I need you to drink." The cadence of his voice and the concern in his now blue eyes told her to do as he asked. She parted her lips, and a thick viscous fluid passed though, tasting strongly of copper, but also honey, and a taste that reminded her of a hot summer's day._

_After a moment, he pulled away, looking behind him. "I have to go, people are coming to help you now. You'll be okay."_

"_No! Please don't leave me!" Elena cried out, grabbing at his leather jacket to keep him with her._

"_I have to. Elena, look at me."_

_She looked up into his eyes, and almost immediately a feeling of peace washed over her._

"_You won't remember that I was here. You crawled over here by yourself."_

"_I crawled over here."_

_The man leaned forward again and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "I'll find you, I promise."_

* * *

><p>The girl sits up straight in her bed as she comes out of her nightmare, her screams still echoing off the white walls of her room. Her eyes fly open and she stares around wildly, her gaze flicking from face to face at the nurses and doctors gathered around her. Then she stares towards the door, and her mouth opens.<p>

"Damon," she says.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So there we go. I know things are probably still a bit confusing and complicated, but the idea for this story is still all convoluted in my brain. I'm hoping for it to make sense for all of us soon though! ;) Anyway, I hope you liked it, and please review?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I am so sorry for the extreme lateness of this update! I wish I had a better excuse than just**** writer's block but I don't, so I hope you can all forgive me? My mojo is back again now though, so hopefully the next update won't take anywhere near as long!**

* * *

><p><em>Catch me as I fall<em>  
><em> Say you're here and it's all over now<em>  
><em> Speaking to the atmosphere<em>  
><em> No one's here and I fall into myself<em>  
><em> This truth drives me<em>  
><em> Into madness<em>  
><em> I know I can stop the pain<em>  
><em> If I will it all away<em>

(Evanescence - Whisper)

* * *

><p>The girls sits in the wheelchair, staring into space, just as she has been doing for the last three weeks. Only, she isn't staring into space, not any more. Now she is looking through the window, actually <em>looking<em>, taking in the sight before her. The sun has just risen over the rose bushes, and in the kind of silence that only early morning can bring, the girl finds her eyes drawn to the maze at the bottom of the garden. She looks harder, and she can see a marble statue of some kind right in the middle of the twists and turns of the laurel trees. It reminds her of something from the past; and the girl smiles slightly. Because she's not just a girl anymore. _I am Elena Gilbert. I remember who I am._

* * *

><p>The car made a slight clunking sound as the engine cut off, and Damon frowned. He'd have to get that looked at soon, he didn't want his beloved car breaking down at the wrong moment. He stepped out into the hazy mid-afternoon Georgia heat and slung his leather jacket over his shoulder, looking up at the building in front of him. It had been a long time since he had been here.<p>

He pushed open the door to the bar, wincing as the smells of old tobacco, spilled beer and stale sweat swept over him. This was definitely one of the down sides to being a vampire. He spotted her immediately, her tall lithe frame moving around being the bar as she served her customers. He smiled slightly; he'd always liked Bree, despite the fact that she was a witch.

The door closed behind him and she looked up, a smile stretching across her face as she recognised him. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," she called out, hopping over the bar in one smooth motion and sauntering over to him. "Hey handsome," she whispered as she threw her arms around his neck and planted a loud, wet kiss on his lips.

Damon smirked back and waggled his eyebrows at his old friend. "Miss me?" He asked, pulling her round in a circle as he moved them both back towards the bar, his favourite whiskey calling his name.

Bree laughed and shook her head at him as she slid back over to the business side of the bar. "Next round on the house, gentlemen!" She called out to the room at large, a resounding cheer going up in response. She made quick work of pouring drinks for the few customers in the bar, and then grabbed a bottle of bourbon and two glasses. "That should keep them occupied for a while," she said to Damon as she led him to a booth in a quiet corner of the room. "Now," she said, sliding into the seat and pouring them both a healthy measure of the whiskey, "why don't you tell me why you're here?"

"Do I need a reason to come visit my favourite witch?" Damon threw back his drink and reached for the bottle to pour himself another.

Bree smiled knowingly as she contemplated him over the rim of her own glass. "You always have a reason Damon, now spill, before I make you regret it." She laughed slightly, letting him know she wasn't being serious.

Damon nodded his head at her in acknowledgement. This was one of the best qualities of Bree's. Unlike most witches he had met in the past, she didn't judge, and if she could help a guy out, then she would, regardless of whether or not he was a vampire.

"There's something going on," he admitted quietly, forgoing the glass and lifting the bottle straight to his lips. "And I need some help understanding it."

"You're coming to me for advice?" Bree raised her eyebrows and sipped at her drink thoughtfully.

"Does that surprise you?"

Bree laughed and choked on her drink. "Hell, yeah! Normally you're looking for some kind of spell to make your undead life easier." She eyed him speculatively. "Well, well, what could have happened to make the Great Damon Salvatore need advice?"

Damon leaned back in the seat and lifted the bottle to his lips again, wondering how to start off the conversation.

"Oh," the witch breathed out, a look of delighted amusement on her face. "It's a girl!" Bree sat up quickly and clapped her hands together, letting out a peal of laughter that rang through the room.

Damon sighed deeply. She was really not going to let him get through this easily.

* * *

><p>Elena sits in her wheelchair looking through the window, slowly letting her eyes adjust to the sights before her. The view is strange; she doesn't know this place, she hasn't been here before. She doesn't let it bother her though; she can take in her surroundings, but her mind isn't yet ready to deal with the implications. Maybe it's the drugs coursing through her system that's letting her come back to reality slowly, or maybe her mind is still too numb to process anything more than her name and the view in front of her. Either way, she is content to sit there for a while, watching the afternoon sun dance across the surface of the far away lake. She doesn't know where she is, or how she got here. The voices that filter down the hallway and float into the room are not familiar to her. But now she is listening; she finds herself straining to hear a voice she recognises. She doesn't yet realise that she is looking for one voice in particular.<p>

"Elena?"

She keeps her eyes on the lake at the bottom of the slope, but turns her head slightly towards the sound of her name. She's not ready to speak yet; doesn't yet realise that she can.

A man she remembers from last night walks slowly into her field of vision. She remembers the look of shock on his face as she had come back slightly to herself. If she looked into his hazel coloured eyes, she might be able to see the professional concern radiating from them now, but she is still not ready to make eye contact; doesn't yet realise that she can.

"How are you feeling today?" The man in the white coat hunches down in front of her, coming down to her level, but still she looks no closer at his face than the hairline. She can see ribbons of silver arcing through the dark blond hair and she fixates on them. Maybe she could count them? She wonders briefly, before the man reaches forward and places his hand lightly on her arm.

That is too much, she's not ready for that, and so she pulls her arm away quickly, jerking her body violently, both the man and the wheelchair rocking back in surprise. Her chin dips down of its own accord, and she screws her eyes shut against the possible memories. She's not yet ready to open that door.

The man sighs slightly. "Elena, my name is Dr Humphreys. I'm looking after you for today until your other doctor comes back." He stands up, his knees making a clicking sound that reverberates through the room. The sound is like a small echo of another noise that Elena has heard, somewhere before. But she doesn't want to think about where, just in case that opens the door.

"Would you like to come and join some of the other residents, Elena? It might be nice to be somewhere else for a while."

Elena raises her chin slightly; she's not sure she wants to be somewhere else. The white walls are good right now; they remind her of nothing. The only thing outside the window that reminds her of anything is the marble statue, and whatever elusive memory that is brings her a sense of peace. This room is a good place for her.

It doesn't seem like she has much of a choice in the matter though; the man has already moved behind her and placed his hands on the wheelchair. Her fingers slide over the armrests as she is turned away from the window against her will, and her eyes start to flick around the room in panic, looking for anything that might help her. Her gaze trips over the teddy bear sitting on the padded chair by the door, and her arm reaches out and snags it as the man wheels her through the open doorway. The floor slides underneath her as she is pushed down the hallway, but she doesn't pay any attention to her new surroundings. She stares down at the teddy in her hands, her fingers slowly running over the silky fur, the faded pale blue ribbon that is tied around its neck. A memory snicks into place behind her eyes and she squeezes them shut reflexively, not yet ready to have any memories. But this memory is not a bad one; this memory does not make her feel like something has clawed her heart right out of her chest. This memory sends a subtle wave of peace stealing over her, and she finds that the corners of her mouth are turning up into a smile. She doesn't think she has done that in a while.

* * *

><p>"<em>You know, I keep getting this feeling that we have met before." <em>

_Elena smiles up at Damon, her hand resting on the doorknob of her front door. She had gone to the Grill this evening, with plans to dance the night away with Bonnie, with a little studying thrown in whenever they sat down, gasping with thirst. She had sat in the booth for almost an hour, before her phone had signalled an arriving message. Bonnie was standing her up; apparently her Grams had been too drunk to be left alone. Elena had thought about giving Caroline a call instead; since she was already out, she might as well try to make a night of it. But then she had looked up and seen the blonde giggling over by the pool tables, as Tyler leaned around her, helping her line up a shot. She had sighed and looked down at her school books on the table in front of her. Ever since she had broken up with Matt almost a month before, she and Caroline hadn't spent much time together. Elena understood, it was hard trying to include a single friend when you were spending so much time with your new boyfriend. She'd struggled enough with Bonnie in the past. She gathered up her books and dropped them back into her messenger bag. She swallowed the remaining dregs of her coke and slid out of the booth. She had decided to go home and do some actual studying, for a change. She pulled the door open quickly, anxious to get out of the bar before Caroline saw her and was forced to ask her to join them. Throwing a quick look back over her shoulder towards her friend, she blew a silent sigh of relief at not being spotted, and walked through the door, only to slam into a hard, solidly muscled chest._

"_Oops, I'm so sorry!" She had exclaimed, her hands automatically coming up to touch the chest in front of her, to right herself._

"_It's no problem, I like it when beautiful girls throw themselves at me."_

_The velvet voice had slid over her skin like a soft caress, and she blushed before looking up at the man she was still holding onto. The eyes that stared down at her seemed to burn with blue flames, the inky black hair a midnight backdrop to the fire. For a moment, Elena felt as though she couldn't breathe; all the air had been forced from her lungs in a single second. It was followed immediately by a sense of the world suddenly coming into focus; every detail in front of her sharpening to the point where she could swear she could see particles of silver light dancing before her, wrapping themselves around her fingers still splayed against the man's chest._

_He smiled at her and cocked his head to the side, the arrogant gesture at odds with the gentle curve of his mouth. "If you're going to continue to feel me up, the least you could offer is your name." His smile turned into a smirk, and the blue fire burned brighter in his eyes as he took in her blushing cheeks._

"_Sorry," Elena said again, removing her hands from his chest quickly, frowning slightly as the feeling of loss enveloped her for a split second. "Elena. My name's Elena."_

_The man smiled, and it had seemed to Elena that he already knew her name, but she dismissed the thought as he offered her his hand. "And I'm Damon," he said softly, raising the hand she had placed in his to his lips for a moment. "Were you leaving?"_

_For a wild moment, Elena couldn't even remember where she was, but as he slowly let go of her hand the rest of the world came back to her. "I got stood up," she admitted quietly._

"_Now that is a tragedy," Damon had replied, leaning against the door. His hand fluttered out towards her for a moment, and then he pushed both hands into the pockets of his dark jeans. His eyes had seemed to blaze with something approaching uncertainty, before he placed the smirk back on his lips. "I'd be happy to keep you company, if you would like to offer the same in return?"_

_Elena had looked at him, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully. She could go home and study, or she could actually have a social life. She had smiled up at him. "That sounds nice, actually."_

_Damon's smirk had widened slightly, and he reached out, pulling the door open for her. "Lead the way," he had said, gesturing with his arm back into the bar._

_They had spent a fun few hours, drinking beer while sitting up at the bar. Every so often, Elena had looked at him out of the corner of her eye. There was something about him that made her think she had met him before, but she couldn't remember where. He seemed to notice whenever she did this; he would suddenly move quickly, or change the subject, leaving her scrambling to keep up. After a while, Elena had looked up and noticed Caroline and Tyler leaving the Grill, their hands wandering over each other feverishly. She had smiled at Damon and asked if he knew how to play pool. His eyes had lit up and he had told her she was in for a beating. She had scoffed at that as she led him over to the table and racked up the balls. "If you're so confident, maybe you should let me break," she had said coyly._

"_Of course, I always let a lady go first. In everything."_

_His eyebrows waggled suggestively, and Elena had blushed at the innuendo, her breaking shot going wild in her fluster. He had grinned slightly and tutted, coming behind her to help her line up her next shot, which hadn't helped her concentration. Once, as he had leant in close, she had turned her head slightly, an unconscious move on her part. She breathed in the smell of him; it reminded her of the scent of trees on a hot summer's day; could almost swear she could feel the dappled rays on her skin as they slipped through the canopy of leaves._

_He had won the game, of course, but instead of flaunting the win like the boys in her class at school, he had simply offered to walk her home._

"_Maybe I just have one of those faces," Damon replied as he leaned against the porch railing._

_Elena managed to hold in her snort of laughter at this suggestion. There was no way that this man could ever be mistaken for anyone other than him, and she was certain that anyone would remember his face for all of eternity if they ever caught even so much as a glimpse of those finely chiselled features. But it wasn't his face that made her think she had met him before, or anything about his physical presence. It was the way his scent permeated through her every thought; his velvet voice as it slid like a calming balm over her skin. It was the peace and tranquillity and rightness that his closeness gave her, slipping over her like a comforting blanket._

_She opened the door and stepped inside; noticed that he didn't try to follow her. For some reason that very thing made her feel brave enough to ask._

"_Would you like a coffee?"_

_She watched as Damon stood up straight, a look of nervous hesitation on his face. "I doubt your parents would like that, Elena." He said with a slight knowing smile, making no movement to come any closer._

"_Why do you think that?"_

_She watched as his mouth opened and then closed quickly, as though what he wanted to say shouldn't be said. "Well, I am quite a bit older than you."_

"_True," Elena said, her eyes drifting towards the driveway. "But they aren't here right now, so what they think doesn't really matter, does it?"_

_Damon inclined his head. "I guess not."_

"_So," Elena shuffled backwards and opened the door wider. "Would you like to come inside?"_

_She watched as his eyes widened slightly, making him look truly innocent for the first time that evening. She smiled at him encouragingly, and he stepped slowly towards the door. She watched in mild curiosity as he lifted one foot and hesitated on the threshold, as though he was afraid the house itself would deny him entry. She closed the door behind him and shrugged out of her jacket, leading the way into the kitchen._

"_So where is everybody tonight?" Damon asked, following her and leaning against the sink, looking for all the world as if he belonged there._

"_My parents have probably gone to a Council meeting; they hold them once a month." Elena flipped on the kettle and reached up to into the cupboard for some mugs. _

"_And your brother?" He asked casually._

"_He'll be out with some friends, most likely." She stopped, the spoon in her hand hovering over coffee jar. "When did I tell you about Jeremy?"_

"_While we were playing pool." She turned to look at him, confusion clouding her face for a second. She didn't remember speaking about any of her family members that night. She took in his open, innocent expression and shook her head slightly. It was possible that she had just forgotten; his close proximity during their game had made quite a few of her thoughts turn fuzzy. She didn't think about the fact that his features looked carefully composed, or the fact that his answer had come just a split-second too late to be completely truthful._

_The kettle came to the boil and she quickly made the drinks. "Do you take cream and sugar?"_

"_A little bit of cream, no sugar." _

_She smiled; he drank his coffee the same way she did. She handed him a mug and led the way to the stairs. When she felt him pause on the bottom stair, she turned slightly towards him. "All the good music is up in my room. You coming?"_

_He paused for a moment longer, before smiling briefly and ascending the stairs behind her, careful to keep a respectful distance. She contemplated that as she walked into her room and located her Ipod. One moment, he seemed happy to invade her personal space; leaning close to her as they played pool; walking closely next to her so that their arms brushed against each other. Then the next moment he would withdraw, as though he was regretting the closeness. She turned away from her dresser to find him lounging on her window seat, the teddy from her bed in his hands. This man was an enigma; like nobody she had ever met before. A part of her was terrified over how inexplicably drawn to him she felt. But the dominating feeling within her was ecstasy; it was as though her very soul had been laying dormant, waiting for him to come and wake her up._

_She watched him for a moment as he looked down at the toy in his hands, her eyes following his long fingers as they stroked the fur in exactly the way that she did it whenever she had trouble sleeping. She suddenly found herself feeling awkward in her own room, not knowing where to sit. A small part of her wanted to keep the respectful distance between them and lean against the opposite wall, but the much bigger part of her wanted to curl up in his lap and find out if his lips felt as soft as they looked. Blushing furiously at her thoughts, Elena compromised and sat on the edge of her bed closest to the window. "My Dad brought that back for me from one of his trips," she said quietly, nodding at the teddy in his hands. Damon looked up at her and smiled. It encouraged her to keep talking. "He always brings things back for me and Jeremy. I have a whole chest of teddies from when I was younger." She nodded at the chest in the corner of the room._

"_So why does this one get pride of place on your pillow?" Damon asked, still turning the toy over in his hands._

_Elena shrugged. "I liked the colour of the ribbon." It was true; the colour had appealed to her so much in a way that she had never been able to explain, even to herself._

_There was a blur of movement in front of her, too fast for her to process, and then suddenly she was standing up, Damon's fingers encircling her wrist._

"_Your parents are home."_

"_Oh," was all Elena could say; the closeness of him was making her head fuzzy again, making it hard for her to think._

"_Elena," he breathed, and she turned her chin up, gasping silently as she looked into his eyes. They were the exact same colour blue as the ribbon. "I have to go. You won't remember I was here." His words seemed panicked, nervous. "You went to the Grill and studied with some friends, then you came home alone."_

"_I came home alone," she intoned monotonously. _

_There was another blur of movement, and then suddenly she was standing alone in the middle of the room, the sound of her mother's laugh floating up the stairs. She blinked a few times, and looked at the window seat in mild confusion. Her teddy was sitting on the seat, the open window letting the breeze in to play gently with the curtains. She picked up the teddy and stroked the soft fur, but instead of moving it back to her pillow, she placed it back on the window seat. It looked better there._

* * *

><p>"So, let me get this straight," Bree curled her legs up underneath her in the booth, looking thoughtful as she unconsciously dipped her index finger into her drink and then sucked it slowly. Damon had always found this gesture incredibly erotic, made even more so by the fact that it wasn't deliberate. Now though, he found himself thinking about a different mouth; teeth that worried at the bottom lip, indicating nervousness or thoughtfulness. He sighed. <em>What the fuck was wrong with him?<em>

"You keep going on these dates with this girl, and then at the end, you compel her to forget you ever met, every single time?" Bree shook her head at him, looking more than a little incredulous.

Damon sighed again. "They're not _dates_, Bree. I don't do dates, I do amazing sex."

"Yes, I remember." Bree smiled briefly at the memories of the amazing sex they had had together. "But these are _dates_, Damon, whether you like to think of them as that or not. But I don't understand why you need to keep compelling her to forget."

_Neither do I,_ Damon thought silently. He wasn't about to admit to the feeling that lodged deep in his gut whenever it became time for him to leave Elena's company. If he didn't know better, he would say that the feeling was fear; fear of rejection, fear of losing something he wasn't even sure he had.

"Why I keep doing that isn't important. It's the after effects that I want to talk about." He ignored the quiet snort that fell out of his friend's mouth and kept going. "She seems to remember me afterwards, no matter how I phrase the compulsion."

"She remembers you anyway?" Bree's eyebrows shot up; this was obviously something she hadn't heard of before.

"Not really. It's not that the compulsion doesn't work, because it does; I have to introduce myself every time we meet again." Damon took a swig from the bottle in his hands, trying to find the right words to explain. "She says things like she's sure we've met before, or that I seem so familiar to her. I'm not sure what makes her think that."

"Is she on vervain, do you think?"

"No, I know she isn't. I... I tasted her. Just to be sure." His mind flashed back to that night in the woods, just before her parents had arrived to take her home.

Bree sat still for a moment, her gaze glassy as she internally went through her magical knowledge in her mind. Damon let her think, disappearing into his own thoughts even as he watched her. It was unnerving how his only thoughts seemed to be of Elena these days. He was lost in a particularly vivid memory of how her blood had tasted on his tongue when he heard Bree give a quiet gasp of realisation, and he sat up straighter, forcing himself back into the present.

"Do you know what's going on?" Damon asked urgently. He didn't know why he wanted to know so desperately; whether he wanted to stop it or just understand it. He just needed to know why he felt this connection to this insignificant human girl, how she had managed to slip under his skin unnoticed; burrowed her way in to the point where he didn't know if he even wanted to remove her.

"I know exactly what's going on," Bree whispered breathlessly. She turned to look at him and her eyes were bright, burning with fascination and... was that _envy?_

"You've found her."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: As always, I hope you like it, and please review?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you to everybody who has left reviews! I promise I am trying to get round to answering them all, but basically I suck, because I keep forgetting! I am hoping to get them done very soon though! Anyway, here's the next chapter, and I hope you enjoy it!  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em>It must be your skin that I'm sinking in<em>  
><em>It must be for real 'cause now I can feel<em>  
><em>And I didn't mind<em>  
><em>It's not my kind, it's not my time to wonder why<em>  
><em>Everything gone white<em>  
><em>Everything's grey<em>  
><em>Now you're here <em>  
><em>Now you're away<em>  
><em>I don't want this<em>  
><em>Remember that<em>  
><em>I'll never forget where you're at<em>

(Bush - Glycerine)

* * *

><p>Dr Humphreys leaned against the nurse station in the recreation room and watched as Elena settled herself into an armchair, the teddy still firmly in her grasp. He had seen her arm snake out to snatch the toy from her room, but he had thought it best not to comment on it. She was slowly starting to take in her surroundings; a big improvement on when she was first admitted, and he hadn't wanted to do anything that might upset her and force her to take a step back again. The teddy was obviously important to her; maybe he should inform Dr Salvatore when he comes back from his urgent trip out of town. There might be some kind of therapy that they could use the toy for.<p>

"Has she said anything this afternoon?"

He shifted to find Nurse Williams standing next to him, her gaze fixated on the teenage girl in the corner of the room.

"Not since she woke up from her nap," Dr Humphreys sighed. "Just one word, in more than three weeks. I don't think I've ever seen a catatonic state so advanced."

"Don't you think it's a bit strange that the one word she utters is the first name of her doctor?" Nurse Williams turned to look at the doctor, a frown creasing her doughy face.

"It's possible they knew each other before the accidents, maybe she remembers him? Or maybe she was thinking of a completely different Damon..." Even as he spoke the words, he knew that was unlikely.

Nurse Williams scoffed at his thought. "I doubt it. It's not a very common name, really. Especially for teenagers these days." She shuffled her feet slightly, her gaze tripping over back to the girl. "Do we know what exactly caused her to be in this state?" She asked nervously. As a nurse, her job was to look after the patients; she was only told certain information about the patients in her care if the doctors deemed it necessary for her to know.

Dr Humphreys didn't mind the impertinent question; it was rare for a teenage girl with no history of mental disorders to show up at their clinic, so curiosity was to be expected. Plus, he trusted Nurse Williams; while she might be curious herself, she knew how to be discreet and keep certain knowledge to herself.

"According to the local sheriff, six weeks ago Elena's parents and younger brother all died in a car crash. Apparently Elena herself was also in the car, but for some reason she managed to walk away without a scratch." Dr Humphreys heard the woman next to him draw in a sharp breath at the tragedy. "And then, an aunt who was supposed to be coming into town to look after her was mugged. She didn't survive the encounter."

"Oh, my goodness," Nurse Williams breathed out. Such a lot of loss over such a short amount of time. "No wonder she kind of flipped out. Sorry," she added, as she noticed Dr Humphreys frown at her colloquialism. "So, who is going to look after her now? Does she have any other family members?"

"An uncle, apparently. Although I believe the sheriff is having some trouble locating him. I don't think he was very close to the family." He stood up straighter and smoothed down his white coat. "And as for now, we're looking after her." He gave the nurse a small smile and walked away towards the art corner.

"You mean Dr Salvatore is looking after her." Nurse Williams mumbled under her breath. She didn't know why, but she couldn't quite shake the feeling that there was some very wrong with the new doctor. She shook her head and walked off down the corridor to marshal the orderlies. It was dinner and meds time for the patients.

* * *

><p>After dinner, an orderly pushes Elena back into the white room that she spends so much time in. As the wheelchair rounds the corner, Elena manages to take in her surroundings for the first time since she arrived. She sees a brown leather bag tucked under the padded chair by the door. Through the open wardrobe she sees a few outfits hanging on bare metal hangers, a couple of pairs of shoes lined up on the floor beneath them. The orderly busies about her, pushing on her jaw so that the woman can brush her teeth, pulling a comb quickly through her hair and tying it back in a lopsided braid, rubbing a wash cloth quickly over her face and hands. Although the woman's movements are brusque, Elena appreciates it, because it means that the woman isn't touching her for long. She's still not yet ready to be touched. She also appreciates that the woman doesn't try to pull the teddy from her grip. She needs this link right now.<p>

The orderly changes her quickly out of the white gown and puts her straight into another identical one, the smell of lemons and starch wafting over her as the stiff material is pulled down around her. If she thought about it, Elena might find herself embarrassed at being changed by a stranger, but she doesn't think about it. She's not yet ready to start thinking. The orderly pulls back the fresh linens on the bed and then grips Elena firmly under her arms, lifting her from the wheelchair and forcing her to walk to the edge of the bed. Again, Elena doesn't mind this kind of touching, because she can feel that there is no emotion behind it. Non-emotional touching is okay now. The woman settles her into bed and pulls the covers around her, before holding out a small white pill in one hand and a paper cup in the other. Elena opens her mouth and the orderly sets the pill on her tongue, following with the paper cup and tipping it, sending a trickle of water down Elena's throat, the pill washing down with it. She plumps the pillows behind Elena's head before encouraging her to lay her head back. Then she stands beside the bed for a moment, looking down as Elena stares up at the ceiling. The woman's hand comes out and hovers somewhere close to Elena's head, but then she thinks better of it and withdraws, pulling away from the bed and moving back towards the door. "Goodnight, sweetie," Elena hears the woman whisper quietly, sadly, before the overhead lights go out with a subtle click. The room darkens to twilight as the door closes softly, and Elena is alone again.

It's not quite dark outside the room; the dying rays of the sun has turned the sky a mix of purple, pink and red, and Elena watches the colours as they dance across the white ceiling above her. She can hear birds outside her window, as they sing their goodnight songs to each other. For the moment, her whole world is quiet and peaceful. She likes it, here where memories have no door to get in and try to torment her. She thinks perhaps she'll stay. She's not yet ready to realise that she can't.

Slowly, the pill that the woman had given her starts to take effect, and Elena feels her limbs grow heavy and her eyelids droop of their own volition. She succumbs to the sedative, not yet ready to realise that she has a choice in these matters. Darkness sweeps her away, and she goes with it, willingly.

* * *

><p><em>Elena sat on the hospital bed, deep in shock, the doctors and nurses blurring into one continuous movement in front of her. Nobody seemed to want to speak to her; few would even make eye contact with her. She closed her eyes, willing the dizzy sensation to go away, but as soon as she did, her mind is standing back on that deserted road, watching the fireball that was her family car. With her eyes closed, she could still hear the sirens of the police cars, the ambulances, the fire trucks. She could still see the flashing red and blue lights as they flickered over the sea of broken glass littered across the tarmac. She can still feel the hands of an EMT as he draped a scratchy blanket around her shoulders and led her to the back of an ambulance, forcing her to sit so that he could examine her for injuries.<em>

_She opened her eyes again quickly; the dizzy feeling is preferable to watching that scene play in her mind over and over again._

"_Elena? Oh my God, Elena!" _

_She was suddenly blinded by a face full of blonde hair as Caroline rushed in and threw her arms around her best friend._

"_Bonnie, she's in here!" Caroline screeched into her ear, and Elena cringed at the intrusion. Caroline drew back slightly and Elena saw Bonnie enter the room, her face pale and drawn, tears pooling in her big brown eyes._

"_Elena, what happened?" Bonnie asked quietly, coming over to her quickly and hugging her friend tightly._

"_We saw all the flashing lights and the sirens." Elena looked up to find Matt leaning awkwardly against the doorway, clearly not sure if he was welcome to join them._

"_We were just driving home, and then we saw the lights," Caroline interrupted, moving her arms around animatedly. "And then we got to a road block, and my Mom told us we should come here, because you'd been in an accident..." She trailed off. "You look okay though. I mean, are you okay?"_

_Elena didn't open her mouth to respond; she couldn't. Her teeth were clenched so hard against the wail of despair that was threatening to rip out of her throat that she thought her teeth might shatter. She looked at Bonnie as the held back sobs threatened to burst out of her chest, and watched as her friend's eyes widened with dismayed understanding._

"_Who?" Bonnie whispered, so quietly nobody could hear the word. Caroline went deathly still beside her, and she sensed Matt standing up straight in the doorway._

"_Al... All of them," she whispered, and then the tears came, flooding down her face and into Bonnie's hair as her friend let out a whimper and pulled her close. The wracking sobs poured out of her mouth, too quickly for her to regain her breath; her chest was aching from lack of oxygen within seconds. Her grief wrenched through her body, every part of her shaking from the pain in her chest._

_She didn't know how long she let Bonnie hold her as she cried and screamed and wailed. At some point, she felt Caroline's arms coming around them both, and she let her friends rock her as she sobbed. After a while she heard Caroline's mom come in and quietly call her daughter's name; felt the comforting presence of her friend retreating for a moment, then returning with renewed strength. "Is it true?" She heard Bonnie whisper over her head, and she couldn't stop the next wave of gut wrenching sobs from taking her over as she heard Caroline's affirmative whisper back._

_It took longer than she had ever thought possible for her to gain enough strength to keep the tears at bay, but when she finally did, she pulled gently away from the safe cocoon her friends had created for her and looked around the room. Matt was still standing awkwardly in the doorway, but Caroline's mom was now sitting in the chair next to the bed, her eyes red-rimmed and watery as she stared balefully at her best friend's suddenly orphaned daughter._

_Liz cleared her throat and stood up, coming closer to the bed and placing her hand on Elena's knee. "The doctors say you're okay to go home whenever you're ready," she said softly, and Elena's throat closed up at the thought of the now forever empty house. "We'll pick up some of your stuff and you can come and stay with Caroline and me," Liz continued, and Elena whimpered gratefully. _

_Bonnie and Caroline helped her down from the bed and together the three girls made their way slowly down the hallway towards the exit. As they entered the bustling lobby, Elena looked up and saw a sign pointing down a different corridor and she stopped, staring at it. __Morgue__. She pulled her arms tight around her chest as her breathing sped up into panicky little bursts._

"_Do I... Do I have to..." Elena trailed off and bent over slightly, resting her hands on her knees. "I mean, do I need to..." She couldn't finish the sentence, and so she pointed at the sign with a shaky finger._

_Liz got her meaning and put her arm around Elena's shoulders. "No, you don't need to do anything, sweetheart. I've done all of that, and I've called your aunt Jenna. She'll be here tomorrow to help sort everything out."_

_Elena nodded gratefully and stood up straighter, and together with her friends she left the hospital, to a life that would never be the same ever again._

* * *

><p>The sun was setting as Damon finally left Bree's bar, feeling more confused than he had when he'd walked in. The heat from the day had warmed the car to a very unpleasant degree, so he sat for a moment with the door open and the air-con blowing. He leaned back and scrabbled around in the back seat for a moment, his fingers finally closing over the handle of his cool box. Lifting the disgustingly cheerful yellow lid, he pulled out a blood bag and ripped through the corner with his still human teeth. The feel of the blood sliding down his throat made both his gums ache and his lip curl. He hated to drink blood from the bag; he much preferred to drink straight from the source. But at the same time, on a hot day like this, body temperature blood didn't really do much to help cool a vampire down. His kind weren't the ice cold statues those crappy Twilight books had bleated about; a vampire's body worked just the same as it had when they were human, just as long as there was enough human blood running through their system.<p>

Damon threw the empty bag over his shoulder onto the back seat and slammed the car door shut, revving up the engine and peeling out of the parking lot, driving as erratically as only a vampire who knows he would walk away from a car crash unharmed could. As he pushed his foot down, racing back towards the town of Mystic Falls, he beat his thumbs across the steering wheel, the staccato rhythm indicating his current anxiety. He had to admit, he was a little freaked out by what Bree had told him. He had never really understood the concept of soul mates; the idea that there was only _one _person out there among the billions of people inhabiting the planet capable of loving him the way he deserved to be loved had always just depressed him. And even though he would never admit it, not even to himself, not even during his darkest moments; there was a part of him that was scared to believe that such a thing existed. Because if it was true, that there was just one person out there who was made to love him, then what would happen if he met her, and she didn't like the monster he had turned himself into? No, much better to believe that it was all nonsense. He had told Bree as much, but then she had gone on to shock him even further.

* * *

><p>"<em>I've "found her"?" Damon raised an eyebrow and snorted into his drink. "What, are you going to tell me all about her being my soul-mate?" He rubbed his forefinger against the bridge of his nose in frustration. He had hoped that Bree would have been able to help him understand the weird connection he felt with Elena; give him an actual plausible reason for it. He should have known that she would spout some mystical ju-ju about the stars coming into alignment or some other crap. This trip had obviously been a monumental waste of his time. Time he could have spent trying to get through to Elena.<em>

_Bree laughed and grabbed the bottle of bourbon from him, pouring herself another generous measure. "No. She's not your soul mate, Damon."_

_Damon paused in his mental planning of how to get out of here fast without hurting the witch's feelings. "No? Then what the fuck are you talking about, Bree?"_

"_Soul mates aren't special," Bree wrinkled up her nose and shrugged slightly. "Well, they are, I guess, but what I mean is that people place too much importance on the idea of there being just one person out there for them. That's completely untrue; while there aren't exactly many people in the world that can match your soul perfectly, there are definitely more out there than just one."_

_Damon found his eyes glazing over, and not from the alcohol. "Bree, focus. So are you telling me that she is my so-called soul mate, or aren't you?"_

_Bree grinned widely. "Sorry. I just find this stuff so fascinating."_

"_That's great, but could you get to the point before I die of old age?"_

"_Funny. You're a funny guy." Bree rolled her eyes at him and sipped her drink slowly. "Okay, do you remember when we were at college together? Well, when I was at college and you were trying to eat your weight in hot college girls anyway."_

"_I remember." Damon narrowed his eyes at her, warning her to get to the point quickly. She got the hint, waving her fingers at him in a gesture for patience. He sighed quietly._

"_Okay, so do you remember that night, when we first realised what each of us was? You helped me do that connecting spell I was trying to learn?" Damon nodded. "Well, do you remember what I told you after it worked?"_

"_You said it hadn't worked, not completely." Damon was confused. And irritated. He wanted answers, not a trip down memory lane, for fuck's sake._

_Bree saw the look on his face and decided to speed her explanation up. A sucking chest wound would not do anything good for her business. "I only thought it hadn't worked, but it had. I've done the same spell with others since then, both vampires and human, and it's always worked properly."_

_Damon thought for a moment, going back over the memory in his mind. "You said the spell can't have worked properly, because you could only connect with half of me, or something like that." He smirked at her. "I can't say I was paying too much attention at the time, I had other things on my mind."_

"_Yes, I remember the case of wandering hands you were suffering from that night." Bree swatted his arm playfully. "I said I could only connect with half of your soul."_

_Damon looked at her in surprise. He truly hadn't been paying attention that night; he was sure he would have remembered a phrase like that. "So, what does that mean?"_

"_It means that you were born with only half a soul." Bree stated, looking at him seriously. "It means that there is someone out there with the other half, waiting for you to find it and make it whole."_

"_What?"_

"_That's what this girl is. She's your other half. She isn't your soul mate; neither of you could ever really have soul mates. She's your twin flame."_

* * *

><p>Damon went over and over the conversation in his mind as the car sped him back to Mystic Falls; back to Elena. His overwhelming response to Bree's assertion was to roll his eyes, berate himself for being stupid enough to think a witch could ever actually help him, and forget all about this disastrously wasted day. But there was another part of him, a small but insistent part, that kept going over the information and finding evidence that fitted with the idea. All of his long life, he had felt like there was something missing. When he had been younger, he had assumed that he was just missing his mother, who had died during the birth of his younger brother. As a young man, he had thought that maybe what he was missing was love, and so he had thrown himself into relationship passionately and thoughtlessly, eager to rid himself of the empty feeling that was his first thought in the morning and the last thought at night. Of course, that hadn't ended too well for him; one of his lovers had turned him into a vampire shortly before being burned alive in a church by the Mystic Falls founding families. After his transition, as he had watched his younger brother go off to medical school, marry and have children, then grandchildren, he had thought that what he was missing was his family. Once Stefan had passed away, Damon had wondered whether what he was really missing was his own chance at a normal human life and death.<p>

But now, his thoughts had been turned in a different direction by Bree's assertions. Maybe the hole he had felt inside him hadn't been any of those things. Maybe all this time, he hadn't been subconsciously searching for something, but someone. Someone to complete him. Damon snorted to himself and rolled his eyes. Great, now he was sounding like some kind of girl, even inside his own head. This twin flames thing was utter crap. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the road in front of him, willing the miles to go past quicker, so that he could get back to Elena sooner, the ache in his chest easing slightly the closer he got.

But the thoughts wouldn't stop coming. Ever since he had met Elena, that day in the woods, he hadn't been able to get her out of his system. And it seemed as though she hadn't been able to completely forget about him either, despite his attempts at compelling her memories of him away. Each time they had met afterwards, she had retained some recognition of him; his smell, the feel of his leather jacket, the colour of his eyes. And Bree's idea had explained all of that. If he believed in it. Which he absolutely did not.

* * *

><p><em>Damon lifted the bottle to his lips once more, and frowned when nothing but a trickle came out. Slamming it back down on the table, he turned to look at the witch, unable to keep the scowl off his face. "Look, let's say that I believe all this two flames shit-"<em>

"_Twin flames," Bree corrected._

_Damon's scowl deepened. "Whatever. Just say that I do believe it. How does this have anything to do with the problem I'm having with being unable to compel her?"_

"_You know, one of these days you're going to have to tell me what that is all about, it's kind of a weird habit."_

"_Bree..." Damon's voice was little more than a warning growl._

"_Okay, okay. You two being twin flames has everything to do with why you can't compel her properly." She sat up straight, giving herself an air of authority. "Just as she is the other half of your soul, you are also the other half of hers. Compulsion messes with the mind, but it can't touch a person's soul." She stood up, grabbing the two glasses and the empty bottle as she slid out from the booth. She turned to look at him with a small smile. "Her soul has found its other half. It's not going to let her forget." Walking backwards to the bar, she waved the bottle in the direction of the street. "I would ask if you're staying the night, but I think you've got somewhere you need to be."_

_Damon watched as she backed away from him with a little smirk on her lips, before turning back to her work behind the bar. Grabbing his jacket, he got up and walked across the sticky bar floor. Bree was right; he did have an elsewhere to be._

* * *

><p>Damon mulled this all over in his mind as the car ate up the distance between himself and Elena. Finally, after what seemed like far too long, his journey came to an end as he saw the sterile white building nestled amongst the manicured grounds of the hospital. As he pulled up in the parking lot, a tension between his shoulders that he hadn't even noticed was there seemed to ease suddenly, and he frowned thoughtfully. Maybe there was something to this twin flames thing after all. He rolled his eyes at himself and walked up to the front doors, hoping he wouldn't have to explain to anybody why he was visiting his patient at night.<p>

Dr. Humphreys stood over the writhing figure of Elena Gilbert as he contemplated what to do. She hadn't started screaming yet, but she was moaning and crying in her sleep; her cheeks were wet with the tears that had leaked from beneath her closed lids. He didn't want to have to sedate her again if he didn't have to, but if she wasn't sleeping well, then she wasn't likely to be able to heal herself properly. The door opened behind him just as the screaming started.

"Do you want me to get the sedative, doctor?" Nurse Williams called to him in a loud whisper, trying to make herself heard over the screams without drawing attention from any other patients.

Dr Humphreys shook his head, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the already loaded and capped syringe. They were going to have to figure out a way to stop this; every time she fell asleep, Elena woke up screaming from whatever nightmare had her in its grips. She couldn't go on like this for much longer.

"You'll have to help me hold her down." He nodded to the nurse, who leaned over the thrashing girl from the other side of the bed, trying to keep her flailing limbs still. Removing the cap with his teeth, he leant forward and poised the needle above Elena's arm. Before he could press it into the girl's skin however, he felt a hard hand on his shoulder, and a harsh voice whispered in his ear.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Damon pulled the doctor away from Elena, whose screams he had heard as soon as he had opened the front doors. Careful not to use his full strength, he pushed the doctor out of his way and shooed the nurse off of the bed. Then he leaned over Elena, reaching out to brush the hair that had escaped her braid back behind her ear. As soon as his fingers touched the side of her face, the screams stopped, dying down into whimpers. Gently, he wiped away the tears on her cheeks with the back of his finger.

"I've got it from here. Thank you." He said to the people still in the room, and he heard them quietly withdraw from the room, whispering to each other. He didn't care enough about what they were saying to listen in.

Slowly, Elena came around from sleep; her eyelashes fluttered slightly as the remains of her dream shattered and fell away. She felt the tender fingers stroking her hair, and she turned her head to look up into the blue eyes that she remembered so well.

"Damon," she breathed in relief, watching as his eyes widened with surprise. She sat up quickly and grabbed the hand that had fallen away from her in shock. "Don't make me forget again. Please don't." She whispered in panic.

Damon swallowed hard. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew that he couldn't ignore her plea. "I won't," he whispered, his voice raspy.

Elena smiled and reached her other hand out to stroke his cheek. "You found me," she sighed, a look of contentment stealing across her face.

"I found you. I promised you I would."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, so hopefully from here on out, Elena might actually be able to start contributing to the storyline, which'll be nice, won't it? lol. So, I hope you enjoyed it, and please review?**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I was waiting for the finale to air so I could concentrate on this story, and then it did and... well, I think the less said about it the better, don't you? *sigh* So anyway, it took me a while to work out what I wanted to do with this story, so I want to say a huge thank you to my friend Jenn (Elvishgrrl), for helping me figure it out! Go check out her stories on here, she's truly awesome! **

* * *

><p>It took a while for Elena to calm down long enough to fall back asleep. For a long time, she had refused to lie back down, despite Damon's promises that he would stay right where he was. He had let go of her hand for less than a second, to grab the closest chair and pull it next to the bed, and she had immediately thrown off the sheet covering her legs, preparing to run after him, no matter where he tried to go. Of course, she couldn't have possibly kept up with him if he had really wanted to shake her, but he had no intention of going anywhere. After he had settled himself into the chair, he had finally been able to convince Elena to lie back down, and she had laid her head on her pillow with her face turned towards him, her chocolate orbs sliding repeatedly over his face, her hand still holding his in a death grip, as though she thought that she could keep him right next to her forever, if only she could keep hold of him. She didn't yet realise that even that wasn't needed to keep him with her.<p>

Eventually though, her eyelids had succumbed to the remaining sedatives in her system, and the peace that Damon's presence gave her allowed her body to relax enough to fall back into a deep sleep, although her grip on his hand didn't loosen. Damon leaned over in his chair and rested his head next to hers on the pillow, raising his hand to stroke the escaped tendrils of hair from her face. He really didn't understand what was going on with him right now, or the hold that this tiny human girl had on him. All he knew was that he'd lived with some kind of weight in his chest for so long that he'd almost forgotten it was there, until that day in the woods. Looking into those chocolate brown eyes he had felt the pressure lift suddenly, only to have it return heavier than before once he was alone again. He didn't understand it, but he wasn't sure he wanted to understand it. The only thing he was sure about was that this was where he wanted to be, right next to Elena. For the first time in forever, he felt as though he could really rest; he felt as though he had come home. With one hand held tightly in Elena's and the other gently stroking her hair, for the first time in forever, Damon really let himself drift away into sleep.

* * *

><p>"Mom. It's been <em>weeks<em>. I am not going to take no for an answer."

Liz winced and lifted a hand to rub circles into her temple at the sound of her daughter's voice. "Caroline, I'm at work. Can't this wait until I get home?"

"No. It can't." Caroline's voice flew down the telephone line in short staccato bursts. "As soon as school is out, Bonnie and I want to go and visit Elena." Liz sighed as she eyed the mountain of paperwork on her desk. "Mom, you promised we could see her once she'd been settled in. And I heard you on the phone with her doctor yesterday."

"Okay, Caroline. Tell Bonnie I'll pick you both up at school." Paperwork would just have to wait. Nothing slowed her daughter down once she set her mind to something.

"You will? Great!" Caroline hung up the phone without so much as a goodbye and Liz dropped her head to her desk in frustration. Every day she wondered how she had managed to create a child so very different from her.

Caroline smiled widely down at her phone for a moment, then jumped slightly as the classroom doors all began slamming open, spilling out students on their way to lunch break. Caroline looked ahead towards their history classroom, searching through the sudden crowded hallway for Bonnie. She saw her friend's dark curly hair bobbing as she made her way to her locker, and Caroline pushed against the flow of students to meet her there.

"We need to go shopping." She said to her friend by way of greeting.

"We could go tonight, I guess." Bonnie's head was deep inside her locker, looking for the books she would need for the next class after lunch. "Although it can't be a long trip. I have a lot of studying to do."

"No you don't. And you don't need that French book, either." Caroline snatched the unearthed textbook from Bonnie's hand and threw it back into the depths of the locker. "We're going shopping now."

Bonnie sighed and rolled her eyes. "Caroline, I'm not going to skip school with you. My dad would flip if he found out."

"Not even for Elena?"

Bonnie turned her dark eyes on her friend, hardly daring to hope. "We can go see her?"

Caroline nodded triumphantly. "Yep. Mom's picking us up after school to take us." She slammed Bonnie's locker shut and linked her arm through her friend's. "Which means, we have to go shopping right now to buy Elena a get well present." She began dragging Bonnie through the throng of students. "Also, I saw some shoes the other day that would totally go with this outfit I bought last week."

Bonnie smiled and shook her head as she let her friend drag her into the parking lot, both of them glancing around for teachers as they slipped into Bonnie's car.

* * *

><p>"Anything?" Elena peered around the doorway of her bathroom to look at Damon as he lounged in the chair by her hospital bed. "Anything I want? Really?"<p>

Damon grinned back at her as he watched her eyes light up with mischief. "Yep. Anything you want to know, I will tell you."

"Hmm." Elena finished pulling the comb through her hair and surveyed herself in the mirror. There were still dark circles under her eyes, and her cheekbones stood out a little more than they should, but she was beginning to look better. She was beginning to _feel_ better. She slid into her jeans and pulled on her shoes and walked out into her hospital room.

"That's going to take some thinking about," she smirked slightly at him, wondering what she could ask that would make him squirm.

"Well, while you're thinking, why don't we go for a walk outside?" Damon stood up and held out his arm to her.

The smile on her face froze, before sliding off as panic started to creep into her chest. It felt like forever since she had been outside the hospital walls; she wasn't sure she was ready to take that step.

Damon noticed her change in demeanour and walked towards her slowly, sliding his hand from her elbow to her wrist. "We won't go far, and I'll be right there with you," he promised quietly.

Elena sighed as his thumb traced her pulse point in her wrist, and she felt the panic fade away at his touch. She shook herself mentally and looked up at him, trying for a smile. "Okay," she said, nodding once, as if to steel herself. She wrapped her hand around his bicep and let him lead her from the room and down the hallway, slowly, but not hesitantly. She knew he was giving her time to get used to the idea without giving her the opportunity to turn tail and run back to the safety of her room. She smiled at the thought; as if anywhere could be safer than wherever he was.

The back door of the hospital opened before them, and Elena held her breath, waiting for the onslaught of memories to crash over her, to force her to her knees as she folded in on herself, much like she had done the morning of her family's funeral. But no crushing feeling came, and she let out her breath slowly in relief. The pain was still there, but muted, easier to deal with. She had no doubt about why that was, and she curled her arm tighter around Damon's. He squeezed her hand in response, and together they walked out into the bright sunlight, their steps automatically leading them down the path towards the lake.

"So, have you thought of anything you want to ask?"

Elena tilted her head to the side as she considered what she wanted to know. She wanted to know _everything_, but she couldn't work out where she wanted to start. It had been a week since she had opened her eyes and called for Damon in the middle of the night. At first, they hadn't talked about much together. She remembered all of their past meetings, and although they confused her, she hadn't been ready to ask what they meant. She had seen the way Damon had watched her when he thought she wouldn't notice; knew he was waiting for her to freak out. She hadn't wanted to risk asking anything that might take him away from her.

But then last night, as they had laid in the tiny metal bed together, staring into each other's eyes, she had finally asked him the question that had been burning in her throat for the past week.

"What are you?" She had whispered quietly, stroking her fingers lightly down his face, letting him know that she wasn't afraid.

Damon had closed his eyes and bit his lip, before shaking his head slowly. "You don't want to know the answer to that, Elena."

She had moved her hand to the back of his neck and snuggled closer to him, their noses almost touching. "Please, tell me. Please."

He'd opened his eyes and looked at her, looking so deeply it felt as if he could see into her very soul. "Are you sure?" He had asked, so quietly she could barely hear.

She had nodded once, smiling slightly, her fingers tracing circles in his raven hair at the base of his neck.

"I'm a vampire, Elena."

He had spoken clearly, without regret, without shame, and she had looked at him, her eyes taking in the planes of his face as she let the words register. For some reason, it didn't surprise her; instead it had seemed to make perfect sense, as though the knowledge had been buried inside her all along.

"Any more questions can wait until tomorrow," Damon had whispered, his body relaxing against hers in relief when she didn't run screaming from the room. If he had felt surprised by her reaction, he hadn't shown it.

"What questions can I ask?"

"Anything, Elena." He had brushed her hair away from her face and leaned closer, pressing his lips to her cheek. "You can ask me anything. Tomorrow."

Elena had nodded and closed her eyes, her hand drifting down to find his, weaving her fingers between his own, clasping tightly. And then she had drifted off to sleep.

And now it was tomorrow, and she could ask anything she wanted.

"So, vampires can walk in the sun?" She bent her head to inspect an orange tree, smiling wistfully as she remembered her mom trying to grow them in their backyard. She had failed spectacularly, and the whole family had laughed as they threw the hard marble sized oranges at each other, the loser having to go out for ice cream afterwards.

"A few can, but not all." Damon answered her question, feeling a smile creep up on his face as he watched Elena trail her fingers over the tree leaves. "You have to know a witch. And that witch has to want to help you."

Elena looked up at him, her nose crinkling as she frowned at the answer. "Witches?"

"Mm-hmm." Damon lifted his left hand and brought it close to her face, showing off the ring on his middle finger. "A witch I knew at the time I turned – not that I knew she was a witch until then – made this for me. If I'm wearing it, the sun has no effect on me."

Elena gazed at the ring, silver filigree encasing a lapis lazuli stone that sparkled in the sunlight. The colour reminded her of Damon's eyes when they were in bed together, the ice blue darkening to a deeper, more vibrant hue. She blushed and looked away across the grounds.

"Garlic? Crosses? Stake through the heart?"

Damon chuckled softly, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of her hand. "The first two are complete nonsense. I also don't sparkle, and I can eat regular human food too. As long as I have a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally."

"And the stake through the heart?"

Damon nodded his head once. "That one's true. Although we don't turn into a pile of ash."

Elena grinned. "Like on Buffy. Does your face change like they did on that show?" She paused on the path. They had wandered down around the edge of the lake and the entrance to the maze stood before them, the green of the laurel trees glittering emerald in the sun.

"Not like that, no. But we do change a bit." Damon paused and turned her to face him, her back to the maze. "Do you want to see?"

Elena watched him as he scanned her face, looking for signs of hesitation. Instead, she smiled and nodded, her eyes widening as she watched the veins pop out beneath his eyes, heard the faint _snick_ as his fangs slid down, the blood red filling up his eyes, making his blue orbs look black. He watched her anxiously as she took it all in, almost flinching when she suddenly lifted her hand up to touch his face. She gently stroked her thumb over the veins beneath his eyes, before letting her fingers slide down to his fangs.

"Ouch!" She pulled her hand away and sucked the pinprick of blood welling on her index finger. Then she looked up at him, suddenly nervous. "Um, is this a Twilight thing, where you get ravenous at the smell of blood?"

Damon smiled as his face returned to normal. "With some vampires, yes. But most of us learn control fairly early on." His smile disappeared as he cupped her face, moving closer to her. "I would never hurt you. You're safe with me," he said seriously, his eyebrows crinkling as he studied her, trying to see if she believed him. She smiled back at him; she already knew that.

"So, what else can you do, besides wipe people's memories?" She saw him wince at that, so she hurried on. "Are you super strong? Really fast?"

"Yes, and yes."

"How fast are you?"

Damon shrugged. "I've never timed myself, so I don't know."

"Could you... outrun a speeding car?"

"I don't know that I could outrun it, but I could probably keep up."

Elena smirked suddenly and stepped backwards slightly. "So, if I ran into this maze, you'd find me before I got to the middle?"

He gave a scoffing laugh, and she used the distraction to turn on her heel and run into the maze, searching for the marble statue she knew signified the centre. She heard him laugh again behind her as she ran, heard him calling out to her.

"I'll tell you what, I'll give you a thirty second head start!"

She laughed out loud, the sound echoing in the stillness around her, the trees bouncing it back to her, lifting her spirits even higher. It felt good to laugh again. It had been too long.

Within a minute, she peered around a corner to find herself gazing at the tall marble statue. She stepped into the centre of the maze, walking around the benches so she could see the statue's face. It reminded her of Damon, the smooth perfection of the lips, the chiselled cheekbones and the straight nose. She reached her hand up to touch its chest, wanting to see if it even felt the same as Damon, but before she could, two arms slid around her waist, pulling her up off the ground and spinning her around in a circle. Her shrieking laughter echoed around the small area as he spun her round and round, before placing her gently on one of the cool stone benches.

"You found me."

"I promised I would," he whispered, his arms still around her waist, and she leaned back against his chest with a contented sigh.

They sat there for a while, their hands entwined, Elena playing with the ring on his finger, Damon dropping his head every so often to place light kisses on her hair. "Any more questions?" He asked finally, stroking his thumb across her pulse point in her wrist.

Elena thought for a moment. "I do have one more," she said, twisting in his arms to face him. "Why did you take away my memories of you?" She heard his breath hitch, and she placed her hand against his cheek. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just... wondering. Why did you want me to forget?"

Damon sighed slightly, his fingers weaving between hers, his thumb still on her wrist. "Elena, it's not that I don't want to tell you. It's just... I don't really know the answer." He looked up at her, lifting his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "You just... surprised me, I guess. And I didn't really know how to react to that." His smile was rueful. "Nobody has surprised me in such a long time."

Elena bit her lip, looking down, her hand sliding from his face to his chest, coming to rest over his heart. "You won't make me forget again, will you?" The words fell from her lips before she even realised she was speaking them, and she lifted her gaze to his.

Damon framed her face with his hands and he placed his forehead against hers. "I promise, Elena."

She stared deep into his eyes, her body relaxing as she saw the truth she was looking for. Then slowly, she leaned forward, pressing her lips against his tentatively. They both froze for a moment, the electricity between them shocking them both into stillness. Then they both moved at once, her hands sliding up his chest and over his shoulders, her fingers weaving into his hair, gripping it, pulling him closer. Damon traced his tongue along the seam of her lips and she parted them willingly, moaning as his tongue slid along hers. She grabbed fistfuls of his hair as she pressed her body closer to his, his hands sliding through her hair down to her waist, his fingers finding the gap between her top and her jeans. He sighed into her mouth at the contact, pulling her flush against him, her legs slipping over his as he pulled her closer.

They slowly came to a stop at the same time, the need to breathe momentarily more important. He traced kisses down her neck to her shoulder, sucking on the pulse point as she slid her hands down his back, feeling the hard muscles beneath his t-shirt. Elena moaned and brought his face back up to hers, but before she could press her lips to his again, he suddenly moved her off his lap and stood up. Her hands dropped into her lap in confusion, but as she raised her eyes to his, she heard voices coming through the thick bushes. She grinned widely. "You have super-hearing too, huh?"

He grinned back and opened his mouth to speak, but just then the voices moved close enough for her to hear what they were saying.

"Elena? Are you in here?"

"She's not here, Caroline, she must have gone back inside."

"But the nurse said she saw her come in here with her doctor, she must still be here."

"Okay, we'll look for a bit longer, and then we'll... Oh."

Bonnie stuttered to a halt as she rounded the corner of the maze.

Caroline bumped into her as she froze on the path, and she leaned around her friend to see what had made her stop. Elena watched as the blonde's face crinkled in confusion as she looked around the sunlit area, before her eyes lit upon her still seated on the stone bench. She shrieked with joy and launched herself across the space towards her friend, wrapping Elena in her arms and hugging her so forcefully they almost fell backwards off the bench.

"Elena! Oh my God, it's been ages! How are you, you're okay, right?" Caroline let go of her for a moment to properly look at her friend. "You look better, doesn't she look better, Bonnie? Bonnie?" Caroline turned her head to see Bonnie still lingering by the hedge, her gaze trained not on Elena, but instead looking warily off to the side. Caroline looked over, and her eyes lit upon Damon for the first time. "Wow, Elena, your doctor is hot!" she stage whispered, making Elena blush.

"I'm not her doctor," Damon stepped forward, placing a smile on his face and holding out his hand. "I'm a family friend. Damon Salvatore." He shared a look with Elena and was relieved when she nodded slightly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Caroline replied sunnily, as she reached for his hand to shake it. As Damon turned to introduce himself to Bonnie, she winked at Elena and mouthed, "well done!" Elena rolled her eyes and grinned. She had missed Caroline.

Bonnie was not quite so enthusiastic, although she shook Damon's hand politely. "I'm Bonnie Bennett, and this is Caroline Forbes," she said coolly, letting go of his hand quickly and moving past him to sit next to the two girls. "We're Elena's best friends. Have we met before?" She eyed Damon warily from her perch on the bench.

"Oh, I think I would have remembered meeting him," Caroline said shrilly, collapsing into giggles as Bonnie whispered her name furiously.

"I haven't been in town long," Damon replied, wondering when he could get out of there. If the Forbes girl was here, then it was probable that the sheriff would be here too. "I heard what happened, and I wanted to come and see if I could help."

"I am sure that you could help with lots of things," Caroline murmured, choking on her laugh as she felt nudges from both of the other girls.

"Well, now that you two have shown up, I should probably give you some time alone with your friend. It was nice meeting you." He took a step back towards the exit, but stopped as he saw Elena stand up and hurry over to him.

"I'll come with you."

"That's okay, I have things to do anyway." He stroked her hair and leaned down to kiss her cheek, whispering so that only she could hear. "I'll be back, I promise." He looked deep into her eyes and waited for her to nod her head, and then he turned away, disappearing into the laurel trees.

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><p>He walked up the path back to the hospital at normal human speed, giving himself time to think about what he needed to do. At the moment, Sheriff Forbes thought he was just Elena's doctor. But she would be going home to Mystic Falls soon, and if he intended to go with her, then he would have to fix that little problem. A doctor following his patient around would be likely to cause some unwanted attention. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost bumped into the dumpy little nurse as she backed out of the door. He smiled at her absent-mindedly, not noticing the frown she gave in response. He made his way to Elena's room, figuring that that was where he would find the sheriff. He knew his instinct was right as he turned into the hallway; he could hear the woman talking quietly on her phone. Before he could reach the room, a man walked out of a doorway on his right, so Damon stopped.<p>

"Ah, Dr. Salvatore, I see Elena is doing much better. I would say she might be ready to go home soon." Dr. Humphreys smiled widely, tapping his clipboard against his leg.

"I think that's up to you, Doc," Damon replied, smirking slightly.

The man looked up, startled. "What do you mean?"

Damon moved closer to the older man, making eye contact. "I am not a doctor, I am just a family friend of Elena Gilbert's. You have been her doctor all along. Do you understand?"

"I've been her doctor all along," the man intoned, his gaze unfocused.

"Good." Damon clapped the doctor on the shoulder as he walked past. "Great seeing you, Doc."

He walked into Elena's room and saw the sheriff standing by the window as she held her phone up to her ear.

"Yes, I understand. I'll tell her. A week? Okay, no problem, I'll sort everything out until then. Thanks." She hung up the phone and slid it back into her pocket. She sighed as she turned around, jumping as she saw Damon leaning against the far wall.

"Dr. Salvatore! I mean, Damon, nice to see you again."

"Likewise, Liz." Damon smiled tightly, his body tensed for a fight despite his laid-back stance. He knew he had to try to compel her, but he didn't know if the Council still fed themselves vervain regularly. He thought there might be a possibility that they didn't; he had tasted Elena's blood once, and it stood to reason that if the Council were still taking precautions against vampires, that they would ensure their children were safe too. The only other option he had would be to kill the woman, but he sensed that Elena wouldn't like that very much. Besides, if he did, the death of the town sheriff would definitely call a lot of attention. Attention that he couldn't afford if he wanted to stay in Mystic Falls for any length of time.

"I was going to ask you if Elena would be ready to come home any time soon?"

Damon pushed himself away from the wall and walked closer to her, making a show of looking out of the window over her shoulder so she wouldn't get suspicious. When he was close enough, he caught her eye and held her gaze, letting his compulsion out, tentatively at first, but gaining confidence as he watched her pupils begin to dilate.

"I was never Elena's doctor, I'm just a friend of the family. Dr. Humphreys will be discharging her at the end of the week."

"At the end of the week," the sheriff repeated, her eyes glazed and unfocused. Damon breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. It seemed as though some of the Council's protection had fallen by the wayside over the generations. He smiled. That would certainly make living in Mystic Falls a lot easier for him.

He heard the three girls laughing as they made their way back up the path to the hospital, so he left Liz where she stood, figuring the four women would want to spend some time together. He needed to go stock up on his blood supply anyway.

* * *

><p>"So he was standing there, in this ridiculous purple t-shirt with the words, 'I hope your couch pulls out, because I don't,' written on it, with this kicked puppy look on his face because I wouldn't go out with him!"<p>

Elena held onto Bonnie's arm as she shook with laughter at Caroline's story. "Aww, Care, couldn't you have felt a little bit sorry for him and gone out with him anyway?" She finally managed to choke out.

"Are you kidding? I was wearing a red skirt, we would have totally clashed!" Caroline flicked her hair over her shoulder as she walked into the hospital room, leaving Bonnie and Elena doubled over with laughter in the hallway.

"Mom, did you talk to the doctor?" She threw herself onto the bed and looked expectantly at her mother.

"Hi, Elena, how are you?" Liz ignored her daughter and held her arms out to Elena as she rounded the doorway.

"I'm good, Sheriff Forbes, I'm feeling a lot better, thanks." Elena hugged the older woman before going to sit on the bed with her friends.

"So, did you?" Caroline asked impatiently, waving her hands in front of her.

"Yes, I did," Liz smiled at Elena. "He says you can come home at the end of the week."

Elena smiled and let her friends hug her, although her smile didn't reach her eyes. She was thinking about what would happen when she went back; where she would live.

Liz saw her apprehension. "When you're ready to leave, you'll be coming to stay with Caroline and me, at least for a while." She smiled tentatively at Elena.

"Really? Oh my God, that's so cool!" Caroline squealed and jumped up and down. "We can have sleepovers every night!" She said excitedly to Elena, who grinned back.

Liz hesitated. "It won't be for long, just a week or so." The three girls turned to look at her curiously. "I've just received a call from work. They've found your Uncle John." She paused, taking in the shocked expression on Elena's face. "He'll be arriving in town next week. He wants to look after you."

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><p><strong>AN: So, hopefully, the wait between chapters won't be so long now that I've got a handle on this story. As always, I hope you enjoyed it, and please review?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Aha! Another update, are you all surprised? LOL. Okay, this chapter may be a bit dull, but I needed to set the scene for their time together back in town, so I hope you'll forgive me. Next chapter UJ will be arriving, and things will be getting a little complicated, so consider this a prequel to that, okay? ;)**

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><p>The sun shone brightly down on Elena as she stood in front of the hospital with her bags by her feet. Off to the side, Sheriff Forbes was deep in conversation with Dr. Humphreys; no doubt receiving instructions on how to look after her once they got home. Elena tried not to roll her eyes at the thought; she knew she had given everybody a big scare by shutting down, and that they were just looking out for her. But she couldn't help feeling a little bit smothered, not to mention nervous at the thought of going home.<p>

It was a lot to think about; going back to school, having to remember to act fine in case she worried any of the people keeping an eye on her. Then there was the return of Uncle John. She hadn't seen or heard from him in over ten years, after a fight he had gotten into with her father one night in their home. She wondered what he would be like as a guardian; as an uncle; even as a person, because she couldn't remember much about him. But the main thought in her head that kept circling back to torment her was Damon. Being here at the hospital, it had been easy for them to spend as much time together as they could wish for, and her chest was already starting to seize up because he wasn't there with her now. He had held her all night last night, just as he had done every night before then while she had been staying in the hospital. Then he had kissed her this morning and told her he would meet her back in town when she arrived home. The nervous feeling in her chest increased as scenarios ran through her head. Maybe now she was out and ready to go back home, he would think she didn't need him anymore. Maybe he would just get bored and leave town. Maybe he would find someone else to occupy his time.

The thoughts were enough to make her feel dizzy, and she swayed on the spot, a wave of nausea rolling over her. She felt a hand on her arm and she was led to a bench in the shade of a sprawling oak tree, a bottle of water pressed into her hand. She took a sip of the liquid and concentrated on her breathing, willing the sick feeling to go away. Finally she was able to look up, and found herself staring into the kindly eyes of the nurse that had been looking after her during her stay.

"It's hot out today," she said, smiling down at Elena and taking a seat next to her. "Don't worry, the doctor will be finished soon, and then you can go home." She looked at Elena speculatively. "Are you looking forward to being back home, getting back to normal?"

Elena bit her lip thoughtfully. "Will I get back to normal?" She crossed her legs and looked off into the distance, her eyes taking in the glint of the sun as it reflected off the surface of the lake. "Normal would be having my family back again. But that'll never happen, so how _could_ I ever be normal again?" She wasn't really asking the nurse a question, more thinking out loud, and she started slightly when she felt a hand on her arm.

"That's true. But sometimes 'normal' has to be worked at. Sometimes you have to create a new 'normal' for yourself, work out what it means for you. And sometimes you have to make a new family, surround yourself with new people and give them the love that you can no longer give to the people who aren't here anymore."

Something in the older woman's tone made Elena turn around. "Who did you lose?" She asked softly.

The nurse smiled wistfully. "My daughter. She was about your age when she died. An animal attack, we were told." She let go of Elena's arm to stroke her hair back over her shoulder, unshed tears glittering in her eyes. "So I make my family here, with all the young people who come through these doors needing my help." She stroked Elena's cheek lightly. "If you ever need anything, you can always call here. I'll be here for you. I think they're ready for you now."

She nodded back in the direction of the car, and Elena looked up to see Sheriff Forbes standing by her car, waving in her direction. She stood up and waited for the nurse to join her, and then gave the older woman a hug. "Thank you. For taking care of me."

The woman smiled. "It was my pleasure, sweetie."

Elena smiled back, and then made her way over to the car. She looked up at the whitewashed walls of the building she had just spent close to two months in, locked inside her own mind. She was glad to be leaving, glad to be feeling more like herself, but she was also grateful to the place. It had brought her to Damon.

* * *

><p><em>Elena looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, the slowly evaporating steam from her shower distorting her features, blurring them to an indistinct image. Or maybe it was the tears doing that; she hadn't been able to stop crying ever since the accident. Even as she had stood beneath the heat of the water, hot tears of grief had made their way down over her cheeks. Most of the time she didn't even realise she was doing it until she felt the wet drops falling off her chin.<em>

_She sighed and wrapped her body in a towel, moving into her bedroom, ignoring the black dress laid out on her bed. She sat down and reached for her comb and hairdryer, yanking through the knots in her hair almost violently, relishing the pain that arced though her scalp at the intrusion. At least it made her feel something._

_Once her hair was done, she walked over to her dresser and sat down, reaching for her make up without looking at herself in the mirror. She already knew she would need to wear lots of concealer to hide her red and puffy eyes. She already knew it wouldn't help. She picked up the mascara and held it in her hand, the memory of the time she had bought it flooding through her. "Always buy waterproof, Elena," her mother had said. "You never know when a girl will find a good excuse to cry." She flung it back on the counter, watching dispassionately as it bounced along the wooden top before rolling off the edge. No mascara today. Even waterproof couldn't hold its own today._

_She was just zipping up her dress when she heard the phone ring downstairs. She didn't rush to answer it; her house had been filled with family friends throughout the past few days, all doing their part in helping the poor orphaned Gilbert girl. Someone downstairs would be sure to pick it up and accept the latest offering of condolences in her place. Elena didn't want to speak to people she didn't know, and listen to their soliloquies on how wonderful her parents and brother had been. She only wanted to speak to the ones who had actually known her family. Since the accident, she had spent most of her time holed up in her room with Bonnie, who was the only person in town who had known her family like she had known them. The only other person in the world who she thought would really understand was on her way here. Elena had spoken to her aunt Jenna a few times on the phone in the past couple of days, neither of them saying much, just sobbing quietly with each other, the distance between them leaving them both with an aching need for some physical comfort. She was supposed to arrive just before the funeral, and afterwards they were going to move her things into the house, as Jenna was going to be looking after her from now on. A part of Elena felt bad that her aunt would have to abandon her studies in order to come live with her, but the bigger part was just relieved that she was coming. She fully intended on staying in her room until she arrived._

"_Elena? Could you come down here, sweetheart?"_

_Sheriff Forbes's voice floated up the stairs as Elena sat on her bed, waiting for Jenna to arrive and the worst day of her life to begin. She didn't want to go downstairs yet; she couldn't bear to see all the faces of the mourners as they looked at her with sympathy, mixed with a sense of relief that this hadn't happened to their own families._

"_Please sweetheart? I... I need to talk to you."_

_Elena sighed and pulled on her black high-heeled pumps, standing up and smoothing her hands over her dress. She pulled her door open and at once the sounds of muted whispers floated around her from the gathering downstairs. She sucked in a deep breath, preparing herself for the looks that she would receive from everyone, for all the hugs and promises that it will get better. Her heels clicked on the polished wooden stairs, signalling everyone of her presence, and she cursed herself, wishing she had had the forethought to carry her shoes instead._

_Liz was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, and Elena stared in confusion at her uniform; she was supposed to be attending the funeral instead of working today. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her friends standing in the entrance to the living room, Caroline with her hand over her mouth, Bonnie with her arm halfway extended, as though reaching for her, a look of horror in both their eyes. More confusion crowded Elena's thoughts as she processed all this. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noticed that most of the mourners she had seen arriving through her bedroom window this morning had now disappeared, but she was too busy inspecting the sheriff's face to try to work out why or where they had gone._

_Liz stood with her arms by her sides, her hands twitching as though she didn't quite know what to do with them. Elena came to a stop in front of her, wondering what was going on. Was it because she was here to tell her that she had to work and couldn't come to the funeral? Elena didn't mind, the less people there the better as far as she was concerned; she would be more likely to be left to grieve with her aunt in peace then._

"_Elena," Liz whispered, her chin trembling as she tried to hold back some emotion. She swiped a hand quickly over her face and coughed slightly. "Elena, I just got a call from a friend at Duke University..."_

_A buzzing sound began in Elena's ears, quietly at first, but getting louder with every word the sheriff uttered. She could sense it; something bad had happened. She felt an insane urge to laugh; what could possibly be bad enough to outweigh what had already happened?_

"_There's been... an incident, um, a... a mugging." Liz stepped forward hesitantly. "Elena, I'm so sorry, but your aunt, she... she didn't make it."_

_The buzzing grew louder; the hallway in front of her started wobbling as the information started to sink in. In a daze, Elena lifted her hand up to her face, feeling her cheeks. She looked at her dry fingers in confusion; all those days full of tears, and now there wasn't a single one to be found. The buzzing had gotten so loud she couldn't hear anything else. She saw Liz's mouthing moving as she continued to talk to her, but she couldn't hear the words. Dark curls obscured her vision for a moment, and she realised that her friends were hugging her, but she couldn't feel them. She felt more than heard, a subtle click in her head, and the buzzing shut off. But the sounds around her didn't return. She felt hard wood beneath her fingers, and a disconnected part of her brain acknowledged that she had sunk to the floor in the hallway. Her eyes registered the open door, the bright sunlight obscuring her vision, turning everything in front of her white, devoid of colour. As her head hit the floor with a muted thud, she stared into the white nothingness. Everything began to float away from her, sight, sound, memories, and she let them go willingly, falling gratefully into the numbness._

* * *

><p>Elena awoke with her fingers pressed tightly against her lips, trying to hold back the scream working its way up her throat. Her eyes wide, she took in her surroundings, unsure at first of where she was. The memories came back to her slowly; the hospital, the staff, the ride home with Liz. Caroline and Bonnie had met her at the Sheriff's house and a slumber party had ensued, complete with trashy movies and popcorn. Caroline had enthusiastically filled her in on all the recent events at school, and Bonnie had promised to help her get back up to speed with all the new cheer-leading routines so that she wouldn't lose her place on the squad. Elena had smiled along and nodded her head, doing her best to listen and give all the right responses. But all evening the only thought in her head was where Damon was. He had said he would see her in town, but she hadn't been able to leave Caroline's house. Did he even know that this was where she was staying? Was he even in town, or had he driven off, having satisfied his curiosity with her?<p>

She pulled the sheet off of her legs and sat up, her toes brushing the beige rug on the floor. The room was bare, a single bed with a dresser in the corner, the walls painted the same colour as the rug. From what she could remember, the Forbes's had used this room as storage; they must have scrambled around to make it fit for use before she had been released from the hospital. Elena felt torn; while she was glad that she wouldn't be disrupting the lives of Liz and Caroline for too much longer, she was also worried about the arrival of Uncle John.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Damon," she whispered to herself. She wished he was here right now, his fingers stroking her hair, his lips peppering light kisses on her skin. She wished she knew where he was.

A light tap on the window behind her made her jump and she spun around, ready to bolt for the door. A hand was pressed against the glass, and as she peered closer a face appeared in the darkness, the ice blue eyes crinkled in a smile. A weight that she hadn't even realised had been there suddenly lifted from Elena's chest, and she scrambled to open the window. Smiling widely, she threw the window wide open.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself." He looked her up and down, a smirk pulling at his lips. "Cute PJs."

Elena looked down at her short shorts and tank top, blushing slightly. "Where've you been?"

"Waiting for you." Damon reached out and stroked the hair that fell over the windowsill. If only she knew how long that statement had been true.

Elena leaned into his touched and sighed, the nervous feeling in her stomach easing with his presence. "Do you want to come inside?"

"I can't," Damon replied, leaning against the wall, looking at the windowsill as though he could physically see the anti-vampire barrier and will it away.

"Do I need to make the invitation more specific?"

"No." Damon shook his head. "Someone who lives here permanently has to issue the invitation. You're just staying here, so your invite doesn't count." He smiled at her and held out his hand. "But you could come outside?"

Elena bit her lip and looked down at her clothes. Then she shrugged; he'd seen her in a lot worse; those hospital gowns couldn't have been exactly flattering. Taking a look around the room, she grabbed a long cardigan and her sneakers, and climbed up onto the windowsill. His fingers feathered over the bare skin between her tank top and shorts and he moved his hands to grab her waist. He lowered her lightly to the ground, the damp grass tickling her bare feet. She kept her hands on his shoulders for a moment longer; she had missed the feel of him even since the night before.

"It's a good thing for us this house is all single story," she said, leaning against the wall to pull on her shoes.

"Oh, I think I still could have made it work."

Pulling on her cardigan, Elena remembered something. "You went out my bedroom window," she said, looking up at him. He nodded. "So, does that mean you can get in my house anytime? Now that I've invited you in, I mean."

"Yep." Damon took her hand and pulled her out behind the bushes and onto the darkened street. It was very late, and the entire town of Mystic Falls was asleep. Damon liked this time of night the best; it was when he could be himself.

"Then it's a good thing I'll be back there by the end of the week." Elena bit her lip as she said the words, the nervousness from earlier creeping back in. She hadn't set foot inside the house since she had learned that her aunt had been killed; on the drive home she had clenched her eyes shut as Liz had driven past her home. She wasn't sure she could ever set foot in that place again, and yet she would have to move back in with her uncle by the end of the week.

"Hey," Damon said, stroking her arm as they wandered down the road. He pulled her to a stop under a street light, placing a finger under her chin to make her meet his gaze. "Let's go now, just you and me."

"You mean, back to the house?" Elena concentrated on his face, memorising the lines of his cheekbones and the shape of his nose as she thought. It might be a good idea; get the first time out of the way so that she wouldn't break down in front of Uncle John. Then she sighed. "I don't have my key on me."

"I can take care of that."

Oh. Of course he could. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. He was standing so close that she could smell the faint scent of him that had always calmed her in the hospital, even before she had realised who he was. His strength emanated from him and she breathed him in, steeling herself and gathering her courage. Then she looked at him and nodded.

"Okay. Let's go."

He smiled down at her, his fingers stroking down from her chin to her neck. "You'll be okay, I'll be right next to you."

"I know," she whispered, closing her eyes again as he leaned down, a moan escaping her lips as he pressed his own lightly against hers. Then, still holding her hand, he began walking again, towards the place where she had grown up.

* * *

><p>Elena stood on the bottom step of the porch, her eyes taking in the wooden bench where she had used to sit with her family on nights just like this one. The tightness in her chest threatened to choke her, and she gripped Damon's hand harder still.<p>

"It's dark," she whispered, looking up at the empty windows.

"Because it's the middle of the night." Damon stroked his hand up her arm.

"No, it's not that. We always used to leave the landing light on at night. Jeremy... He was afraid of the dark."

Damon said nothing, instead he pulled slightly on her hand and took her round the side of the house, to the back door. Reaching out, he twisted the door knob, and Elena heard the distinct _clunk_ as the lock broke. She gazed in astonishment; she knew he was supernaturally strong, he had told her that, but it looked to her as though he didn't put any effort into it at all.

The door opened in front of them, and Elena squinted into the darkness. Shapes appeared before her as she stepped into the kitchen; she trailed her fingers over the counter of the breakfast bar, her hand automatically skipping over the knife block, still standing where it always had. Light suddenly bloomed in front of her, and she turned to see Damon standing by the door, his hand over the light switch, watching her quietly. She smiled ruefully at him; she couldn't really experience the full effect of coming back here if she stayed in the dark. She slowly let her eyes wander around the kitchen, taking in Jeremy's last piece of artwork that her mother had pinned against the refrigerator, a small pile of laundry in the corner, her father's reading glasses sitting by the kettle. A small sob escaped her lips and then Damon was holding her, brushing his thumbs under her eyes, wiping away the tears that she hadn't realised were falling. Elena leaned her head into his chest and let the sobs come, letting the tears soak through his thin black t-shirt as he gently rubbed her shuddering back. Slowly the wracking cries subsided, and she was able to breathe in the scent of him, the smell calming her again. Eventually, she was able to stand up straight and look around her again, and she realised that although the little mementos of Jeremy and her parents were all around her, they were also a small comfort as well as a source of pain.

"Come on," she said to Damon, grabbing his hand again. "I want to show you something."

She led him into the sitting room, motioning him to sit on the sofa while she headed over to the book shelves. After finding the one she was looking for, she turned to find Damon sitting at one end of the sofa, his arms spread out to her. She smiled and walked over, sinking gratefully into his embrace. She snuggled into his arms as he leaned over and turned on the table lamp, and she opened the book in her hands.

"What's this?" Damon kissed her hair and pulled her in closer, his slender fingers reaching out to touch the pages in front of her.

"Our last family album." Elena stroked her fingers over a picture of the four of them together. "It starts with our last holiday at the lake house, last year." She tapped a photo in the top right hand corner. "There's Jeremy. He was complaining that I'd pushed him in the water, when he'd actually tried to dive and ended up belly-flopping."

Damon turned the page for her and let out a low whistle. "You are going to have to dig out that little black bikini for me."

Elena blushed and moved on, taking in the photographs of her family in various poses. There was her mother, laughing as the wind tried to strangle her with her sarong. There was her dad, frowning as he held up a blackened piece of meat from his failed attempt at a barbeque. She turned the pages slowly, her eyes lighting upon each captured memory, her heart throbbing as each photo stung a little and then soothed the pain of her loss. After a while, she felt fingers on her cheeks as Damon once again wiped away the tears that had started to fall. Sighing, she closed the album and leaned her head against his chest.

"Did it help?"

"Yes. Thank you for coming here with me tonight."

"I'd go anywhere with you." She felt his lips whisper against her hair. "Speaking of going places though, we should really be getting back. It'll be light out soon."

Elena frowned, and then sighed in agreement. She stood up and replaced the book back on its shelf as Damon turned out the light behind her. Together they left the house the way they had entered, out through the back and onto the street again. Hand in hand they walked back to Caroline's house, until finally they were back beside the open window of her makeshift room.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" She asked, turning to face him, the dawning sun giving his raven hair a reddish glow.

"Are you going back to school tomorrow?" he stroked his fingers through her hair, tucking it behind her ear.

"Sheriff Forbes has said I don't have to if I don't feel up to it, but I was planning on going anyway. I've done enough sitting around for a while."

"How about I pick you up after school, we could go for a drive, wherever you want to go."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm, if you think you can get away from your friends for a while." His hands slid around her waist, pulling her closer.

"I think I could probably manage to find a way."

She trailed her fingers up over his chest and into his hair, pulling him down closer. Their lips met and she sighed, pressing herself against him and rising up on her toes in an effort to get as close as possible. Electricity coursed through her as their tongues danced together, and she wondered if she had ever felt this complete. As they slowly drew apart – minutes, hours, days later – they were both breathing hard, struggling to hold back from what they both clearly wanted to do next.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Damon finally whispered, pressing his lips against hers one final time.

"Tomorrow."

With Damon's help, Elena pulled herself back onto the windowsill. Balanced on the edge, she turned to wish Damon goodnight, but he had already gone. Smiling into the dawn, she let herself tumble backwards onto the bed. She squealed as she realised she had fallen onto something human-shaped, and she scrabbled around in the dark, trying to untangle herself from the sheets. The bedside light snapped on, and she blinked in the sudden glare, before sucking in a gasp.

"Caroline."

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><p><strong>AN: So, as I promised last week, updates will continue to be regular again (this little note is especially for you, Saskia x). As always, I hope you liked it, and please review?**


	8. Chapter 8

__**A/N: Hazzah, another update! This chapter was kicking my ass a little, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get it up today, but yay me! LOL. Anyway, here you go, a bit more back story and a little DE time. I think UJ is going to be showing up next chapter, which should be fun!**

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><p><em>The fire was hot on her skin as she stood in front of the burning pile of wood, a bottle of beer clenched in one hand. Through the flickering flames, Elena could see Caroline shaking her blonde hair over her shoulders as she leaned against Tyler Lockwood's car, laughing hysterically at whatever lame joke the idiot had just come out with. Elena smiled and shook her head at her friend's behaviour; anything but school work, and that girl would throw herself into the project at full-speed, and Tyler was on her current "to do" list. Literally. The heat from the fire made her feel uncomfortable, so she moved closer to the edge of the woods, closing her eyes as the chill of the early summer night cooled her warm cheeks. She leaned against a tree and searched the crowd of teenagers for Bonnie. She had last seen her being dragged away by some of the other cheerleaders to try and perform a drunken triangle, as Elena had laughed and promised to join them as soon as she'd found herself another drink. As her eyes scanned the people at the bonfire, she noticed Matt, leaning against his truck and watching her from the other side of the blaze. She sighed and turned away, chugging her beer and moving to grab another from the cooler. He kept looking at her like that; like he was just waiting for her to change her mind and go begging for him to give her another chance. He just didn't understand; this small-town life wasn't what she wanted for herself. Not that she actually knew what she did want, Elena mused to herself as she popped the cap off the cold bottle and sipped off the foam. Both Bonnie and Caroline had asked her that question enough times since she had broken up with Matt, and she still didn't have an answer for them. She just knew that living here in Mystic Falls, attending the seemingly bi-weekly town events, marrying her childhood sweetheart and then raising her children to do the exact same thing, wasn't it. She wanted to see what life was like somewhere else; everywhere else. She wanted to climb Mount Everest and backpack across Australia; she wanted to swim with sharks and watch lions catch their prey on the plains of Africa. She wanted to sit outside a cafe in Paris, sipping 'cafe au lait' as she read classic novels and watched the world pass her by, and she wanted to sit on a deserted beach, imagining that the whole world had left her in peace. But more than that; much more than people and places, she wanted to find love. The kind of love that wasn't possible to find on the main street of Mystic Falls. The kind of love that you only ever read about within the pages of old classics and poems. She had loved Matt; she still did, in her own way. But it was the kind of love she felt for Bonnie, or Caroline, even Tyler Lockwood. It was the kind of love that made her feel safe; that made her feel comfortable. But it didn't make her feel like she belonged; it didn't make her feel alive with energy and it didn't make her feel consumed with passion. That was what she wanted.<em>

_She hadn't realised that she had wandered so far away from everyone as she mused on her wants and dreams; the flickering flames of the bonfire was now just a muted orange glow in the distance; the shouts of laughter and music an indistinct rumble. She had walked along the edge of the wood, the trees full of deep green leaves, the odd pink or purple flower sprouting up between the interweaving roots. Elena turned her back on the fire and the crowd and squinted into the darkness of the wood. She felt a pull towards the centre of the trees and she stepped forward, hesitantly at first. The moss that grew on the forest floor had turned brown and dry with the recent lack of rain, and her footsteps rustled instead of squelched as she made her way slowly past the first clump of trees. A few more steps and any evidence of the party behind her fell away into nothingness; the only sounds the whisper of wind in the branches and her own breathing. After a moment, she came to a stop in a small clearing, and she lifted her gaze to the sky. The moon shone bright and round, the stars twinkling around it in perfect clarity in contrast to the black surroundings. It's so beautiful, and peaceful, Elena thought, turning in a slow circle as she looked up at the sky. She wondered what the sky would look like if she was standing in the Sahara desert, or floating along the Yukon River._

"_It's beautiful, isn't it?"_

_Elena started as she heard the voice, and looked around her, trying to pinpoint its source. As her gaze swept the line of trees circling the clearing, a man in a black leather jacket ducked under a low hanging branch and stepped into the moonlight. Elena sucked in a gasp as she took him in; his mussed hair as black as the sky above them; his lean physique swathed in black clothing; his pale skin that seemed to glow in the dim light. But it was his eyes that held her gaze the longest; piercingly bright, the colour of blue flame._

"_I know you," she whispered, still staring at him. The longer she looked into those eyes, the more strongly she felt it._

_The stranger cocked his head to the side as he contemplated her words. His face was a cool mask, but she could tell that he was surprised by what she had said. "You do?" He asked finally._

"_Do I?" Elena frowned and wrenched her gaze from his. Now that she thought about it, she was sure that she would remember seeing this man around town. Her eyes swept down his body, over his black t-shirt and black jeans. Yep, she definitely would have remembered seeing that. She blushed at the thought and shook herself slightly, before looking back at him with a smile._

"_Sorry, you just seem really familiar." And he did; as soon as her eyes connected with his again, the feeling of familiarity washed over her. There was also a frisson of danger there too. Her smile slipped slightly as she suddenly realised that she was alone with a stranger in a dark patch of woods, far from anyone who might be able to hear them. The man smiled suddenly, as though he knew exactly what she was thinking, and he came a step closer. But still, even as she stumbled back slightly and searched about the clearing surreptitiously, that familiar feeling was still there, making it impossible for her to really feel afraid. She held her ground and looked up at him. "I'm Elena."_

_The man stopped moving and she saw a confused frown flicker across his face before he smoothed it away, back into the same mask of affected indifference. "Nice to meet you, Elena. I'm Damon."_

_The name sparked a memory somewhere deep inside Elena, but before she could remember it the ember died._

"_You shouldn't be out here in the woods all alone, Elena. These woods aren't safe, especially at night." Damon smiled again, and she shuddered, half afraid, half enticed._

_She shook herself again; who did this man think he was? "You've obviously not been in town for very long," she said confidently. "This is Mystic Falls, nothing bad ever happens here." His smile grew condescending, and it irritated her slightly. "What are you doing out here then?"_

_Damon shrugged. "Just out for a walk, I like being out at night, it's sort of..."_

"_Peaceful," Elena finished for him, and he looked at her, surprised._

"_Yes, exactly, it's peaceful." He had edged closer as he spoke, and he reached out to her, as if to take her arm, before thinking better of it and holding his hand out to her instead. "You really shouldn't be out here on your own. Can I walk you back to your friends?"_

"_How do you know I'm here with friends?"_

"_I heard a whole group of them as I walked here; I assume you're one of the bunch?" His arm was still in the air between them, and she placed her hand on his tentatively. A bolt of electricity shot through her at their touch, and she stumbled slightly. He reached out and grabbed her upper arms. "Are you okay?"_

"_Hey, do you mind? That's my girlfriend you've got your hands all over."_

_Elena turned to see Matt stepping out from between some trees on the opposite side of the clearing. His hands were clenched and he was glowering at Damon. He walked over to them and wrenched Elena out of Damon's grasp. "Come on, Elena, let's go." Trying to wrench free, she stumbled and fell to her knees, her palms shooting out in front of her to break her fall. The beer bottle she was still holding shattered as it hit the ground, a large shard stabbing through her hand and she cried out._

_Holding her hand close to her chest, she struggled to her feet, intending to tell Matt exactly where he could shove his unwanted affections. But as she stood up, neither man was standing near her. Damon was holding Matt up against a tree trunk, his hand clenched around the younger boy's throat._

"_She's not your girlfriend anymore, didn't you get the message?" Damon growled as Matt made small choking sounds; Elena could see his toes scuffing the roots as his feet scrabbled for purchase._

"_Damon, don't!" She yelled, stumbling a few steps towards them._

_Damon turned his head to the side as she spoke, but didn't meet her gaze. He nodded once, then turned back to Matt. "You're going to go back to your friends now, and you're going to leave. Elena. Alone. Do you understand?"_

"_I understand," Matt choked out, his windpipe still clutched in Damon's hand. Damon let him go and Matt staggered as his feet finally touched the ground. He regained his footing and then turned back the way he came, not even sparing a look for Elena._

"_Why did you do that?" Elena gasped out, shaking as the images replayed in her mind._

"_He hurt you," Damon replied simply, his head still turned away from her. "Are you alright?"_

_Elena looked down at her hand; a jagged cut bisected her palm, blood oozing down over her fingers._

"_Actually, I think I might need stitches," she said, digging in her pockets with her other hand for a tissue. "But it was an accident; you didn't have to do that to him."_

_Hands came around her clenched fist, and she looked up into his face as he inspected her wound. He pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wrapped it carefully around the cut._

"_He hurt you," he repeated, frowning down at her hand._

"_So you had to hurt him back?"_

"_It's what I do. It's who I am." He lifted his gaze to her eyes finally, and she stared back. The fear that had gripped her moments ago dwindled into something else entirely as she fell into the ocean of ice-blue._

"_No it isn't," she said eventually, as certain of the fact as though someone had just whispered the truth of it into her ears. "It's what you think you should do – hurt people – so you do it, but it isn't who you are."_

_She heard his breath catch in his throat as he stared at her for a moment, his hands still clasped around her injured one. Then he seemed to shake himself, and his unaffected mask fell down again._

"_Listen, I could drive you to the hospital for stitches, or I could just fix it for you right now. Which would you prefer?" His tone was all business, but Elena was sure she could hear something else in there too; a pleading note for her to trust him._

"_There's not much point in going to the hospital if you can fix it here, is there?" She asked, and held his gaze._

_He nodded once, and his hand came out to caress her cheek; she found herself leaning into his touch without consciously knowing she was doing so. He pulled his hand away, his fingers trailing down her cheek as he lifted his wrist to his lips. His gaze lowered for a moment and her eyes widened as she watched him bite himself._

"_What are you..?"_

"_Shh," Damon interrupted her, his eyes back on hers, and she felt herself go completely still. "You're going to drink this, and then you're going to forget we ever met."_

"_I'll forget," she whispered, and Damon gave a sigh of relief, ignoring the twinge of disappointment that darted through him. _

_He lifted his bloody wrist to her lips, his own parting as he felt her tongue on his skin as she lapped up his blood. He didn't want to look away, the sight was so unbelievably erotic to him, with her eyes half closed and her lips pressed against him, but he glanced down anyway, wanting to be sure her cut was healing. When the last piece of skin had sealed itself back together, he pulled his wrist away from her reluctantly. Then he pointed her in the direction of the party, and she walked off obediently, back to the bonfire and her friends. Slowly, Damon lifted his other hand up to his face, breathing in the scent of her blood that had dripped onto his fingers. Scrunching up the handkerchief to wipe the smears away, he left a single drop on the end of one finger. Then, when the rest of his hand was totally clean, he placed the tip of his finger in his mouth, just to taste her. He had never known anything like it._

"Elena? Elena, sweetheart?"

Elena groaned as she opened her eyes to the beige walls, the sun poking in through a gap in the curtains. She turned over under the sheets to see Liz standing in the doorway, fully dressed in her uniform and ready to go to work.

"Are you sure you want to go to school today?" Liz asked, a worried frown crinkling her forehead. Elena yawned and nodded. "In that case, you need to start getting ready; Caroline's already in the shower."

Liz left and Elena swung her legs over the side of the bed, running her fingers through her hair. She'd had maybe two hours of sleep, after her outing with Damon and the subsequent 'boy' conversation with Caroline. But she had been sleeping enough recently, and she really wanted to get her first day back at school over and done with. At least Liz had woken her up before her dream had got to the bad part; she didn't know if she would have been able to get up at all if she had had to relive the car crash all over again. Yawning again, she opened the dresser, searching for her favourite pair of jeans as she heard the water shut off in the bathroom. At least she had some time with Damon later to look forward to. She smiled slightly as she grabbed up her stuff and walked out of her room.

* * *

><p>The pen felt foreign in her hand; it felt like it had been forever since she had held one. She doodled in the corner of her notepad, trying to get used to the feel of holding it again; trying to get used to being in class again. She had spent most of the morning in the guidance counsellor's office, filling out forms and being given tests that she had missed while she had been away. She had been given a pile of homework to catch up on, although they had assured her that she could take her time in handing it back in. Then she had been told that the hospital had forwarded some of her medical notes to the school, and was kindly advised to come to them if she started feeling overwhelmed at any point. She had smiled and thanked them, holding back the eyeroll that would have expressed her real feelings. Then she had met with Caroline and Bonnie for lunch, and tried to ignore the looks and whispers that had followed her wherever she went. Her friends had tried to shield her from it as much as they could, for which she was grateful, but she still couldn't help feeling a little bit smothered.<p>

It wasn't just the students that had been watching her, as though she was suddenly going to start wailing in the middle of the hallway. Every teacher she had passed, whether they had ever taught her or not, had felt the need to stop her and ask how she was doing, and to express their sorrow over her loss. As a Founding Family, she knew that the death of her parents and her brother had hit the entire town hard, but she still couldn't help feeling a little resentful at the people who had hardly known them acting as though they too had suffered a great loss. They didn't know the meaning of the word.

Her one and only class of the day was English, and she had been grateful to sink down into her usual seat by the window and crack open her book. She sat there, doodling on her pad as she pretended to make notes; pretended to listen to the teacher as he droned on about allegories. She could feel his gaze as it constantly flicked over to her; he hadn't yet had a chance to express his condolences to her. She sighed deeply and lowered her head, letting her hair hide her face like a shield against the coming rhetoric. She didn't want to hear how sorry other people were feeling.

A car horn blared once from the parking lot, and her eyes automatically looked out the window, searching for the source of the noise. A pale blue Camaro idled in a space near the entrance, a black clad arm resting on the rolled down window. She felt a smile creep up on her face, and she sat up immediately.

"Mr Wilson?"

"Yes, Elena?"

She tried to hide her smile as he wandered between the desks, aiming for hers in the corner.

"Would it be okay if I left class early?" She smiled tentatively at the grey-haired man stooped in front of her, his glasses poised on the end of his nose. "I'm just... I'd really like to go now." She dropped her gaze to her lap and fiddled with her fingers.

"Oh. Oh yes, of course, if you're not feeling up to it right now." He straightened and looked around the classroom. "Would you like someone to drive you home?" He gestured towards Caroline, sitting a few rows behind her.

Elena turned her head to look at her friend, and shared a discreet smile with the blonde. "No, it's okay, I was going to walk. I could do with some fresh air."

"Okay then, if you're sure?"

Elena assured him she was, and gathered up her things, stuffing them all into her bag as she stood up and headed for the door, eager to get out of the building. She looked over her shoulder as she stepped through the door, mouthing a thank you to Caroline as she left. Her pace picked up as she walked through the quiet hallways, so that by the time she hit the exit she was running flat out. She slammed through the doors, not caring about the noise she made, and threw herself down the steps and into the parking lot, running towards the car that she knew held her own personal haven. She pulled open the passenger door and jumped into the seat, the worn leather like butter against her exposed skin.

"In a hurry to get out?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." She leaned over and ran her fingers through the raven hair as his face turned towards her, a smirk pulling at his lips. "I missed you."

"I can tell." Damon snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, almost onto his lap as his dipped his head and gave her a chaste kiss on her lips. "I missed you too," he whispered as he ran his nose under her jaw to her neck, placing a light kiss on her pulse point. "So, where do you want to go?"

Elena smiled and closed her eyes, revelling in the feeling of being whole; a feeling she had been missing since saying goodbye to him outside her window the night before. "Anywhere."

"Okay then." Damon pulled back and put one hand on the steering wheel, the other trailing down her arm and coming to rest on her jean clad thigh. She slid her fingers underneath and interlaced them with his. "So, how long do I have you for?" He asked as he peeled out of the parking lot and started driving towards the edge of town.

"Sheriff Forbes is working late tonight, so I have until she gets home. Caroline said she'd call me when her mom's on her way home, so I have time to get back before her." Elena pulled her legs up on the seat so that she could rest against Damon. "She was waiting in my room last night. She knew I'd gone out."

"I know, I heard her." Damon chuckled quietly.

"You knew?" Elena's eyes widened as she stared at him. "And you left me there to deal with her alone?" She punched him in the arm.

"Ouch!" Damon laughed and rubbed at the spot where she had hit him, even though she knew it hadn't hurt. "I didn't think my presence would have helped. Besides, I knew she wasn't really mad, I could tell by her breathing." He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she huffed in mock annoyance.

"It still wasn't very nice of you to leave me on my own to deal with her."

"I'm not a very nice person."

The words were said lightly, carefully blasé, but Elena noticed his knuckles whitening as he clenched the steering wheel harder. She sighed quietly and turned to look out at the trees flashing past her window. He had said things like this before, when they had been laying next to each other on the too small metal bed. He seemed determined to keep trying to make her think of him as something evil; as something not worth her time. She didn't understand why he thought this about himself; what did he see when he looked in the mirror? She knew what she saw when she looked at him; purity, beauty, innocence. She wasn't stupid; she knew what he was, and he had given her enough details of his life to know that he had done a lot of bad things. And although he would often gloss over the details, she knew exactly how bad the things he had done were. She knew he had killed people; even worse, she knew that he had enjoyed it; his eyes would light up with blue fire as he spoke. But it was how he looked _after_ those moments that told her unequivocally the kind of man he really was. His eyes would shift to her, and his entire body would tense up, as though waiting for her to react as he thought she should. Those moments gave her little glimpses into the man beneath the monster; the facade he had been wearing for so long that he himself believed it to be real. He was sarcastic and he was snarky and he was lewd, but that was all deflection. She could feel it in his touch; see it in his eyes when she caught him looking at her. She knew what he thought too. She knew he thought that it was being with her that had started to change him, make him less mean; less monster. But she knew the truth. That man had always been there; all she'd done was give him the opportunity to take off the mask. She also knew that he was the reason why she had been able to come back to herself; no matter what he thought, no monster would have taken the time to do that for anyone.

"So, what did Blondie have to say?"

His question interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to see him studying her.

"She wanted to know where I'd been, obviously." Elena rolled her eyes at him and smirked.

"Was she mad?"

"I thought you said you could tell that she wasn't?"

"Well I can. Within reason." The car slowed and they turned down a leafy driveway that looked vaguely familiar to Elena.

"No, she wasn't mad, just curious."

"About where you'd been in the middle of the night?" The driveway opened up, and the car pulled to a stop outside an old house.

"That, and about you. Where are we?"

Elena looked up at the porch they had parked in front of. Turning back to face Damon, she realised he had already got out of the car. Before she knew it, her door was opened for her and he was standing next to her, holding out his hand.

"The Salvatore Boarding House," he replied as she stepped out of the car. Still holding her hand, he pulled her towards the steps, as she gawked up at the old building.

"I feel like I've been here before," she said wonderingly, as her eyes took in the antique oak front door and the mullioned windows spanning the length of the building. She looked back over her shoulder at the driveway, a small frown wrinkling her nose.

"You've been here before?" Damon remembered her dream that she had recorded in her diary, but she couldn't have actually been here that night.

"My friends and I came here a few times when we were little," Elena said as he opened the door wide for her to enter. Her sneakers squeaked on the polished wooden floor of the hallway. "But we always came in through the back, through the woods. I've never seen the driveway before." The hallway opened up before her and she stopped, staring around her, taking in the tapestries and art on the walls, the huge stone fireplace, the antique furniture. "Wow, is this your living room?"

"Living room, parlour, seventies auction. It's a little kitschy for my taste," Damon said flippantly, his mind still on wondering how she could have been standing outside his bedroom window when she was clearly still in bed dreaming. Was it more of this weird twin flames thing? Damon rolled his eyes at himself and got over it; it was far more likely that she'd just seen the driveway when she was younger and just couldn't remember it. He determinedly didn't think about the fact that he had felt someone standing outside at the exact same time. Much more freakiness, and his head might explode.

"I think it's beautiful," Elena said now, walking over and running her fingers lightly over the back of the Chesterfield sofa. "So who keeps it this clean when you're not staying here?"

Damon walked over and helped himself to a glass of whisky. He held the bottle up in question to Elena, who shook her head with a smile as she sank down into the corner of the couch. He felt weird, having her here, seeing her look so comfortable here, and he was wishing he had taken her somewhere else; anywhere else.

"Uncle Zach keeps it clean for me when I'm not here," he said, downing the first shot of the amber liquid and pouring himself another. "It's his way of thanking me for letting him stay here."

"_Uncle_ Zach?" Elena raised her eyebrow at him.

Well, no, technically, he's my great-great-great nephew, or is it great-great-great-great?" Damon frowned to himself as he tried to remember how many generations he'd outlived. "Anyway, he looks after the place because he knows that I'd kill him if he didn't." He looked at Elena, waiting for the inevitable shocked reaction. Instead he saw her roll her eyes slightly, a small smile playing on her lips. "You don't believe me?" He moved to stand over her, his expression serious. It was suddenly incredibly important to him that she understand what he really was. "Zach does. He believes it so completely that whenever I breeze back into town he suddenly remembers he has urgent business elsewhere and doesn't come back until long after I've left." He drained his glass and placed it on the table behind him. "Whatever's going on here between us," he leaned over her, "this isn't who I really am. Who I really am, is the thing that has Zachy boy running for the hills as soon as he hears my car in the driveway. Don't confuse the two."

Elena regarded him coolly for a moment from her place on the sofa. "I believe that Zach believes it," she said finally. "I even believe you yourself believe that you would kill him. I even believe that you would kill him." She unfurled her legs and stood up slowly, looking steadily into his eyes. "But what I don't believe is that you would kill him over some dust on your favourite rug." She stepped closer to him, so that their chests were almost touching. "If he tried to hurt you, if he tried to hurt someone you care about, if he threatened you in some way, then I could see it." Her voice fell to a whisper as she leaned closer, her chin tilted up so that their lips were only millimetres apart. "But over a rug? Sorry, I don't buy it."

"Well, they are all original antique Persian rugs." Damon swallowed hard.

All of a sudden he felt as if she was much too close. Her hair brushed against his arm and her scent swirled around him. She was so close that he could count her eyelashes. She was so close that he felt she could see right through him to his soul. He blinked, trying to remain in control; trying to stop her from seeing the darkness that lived inside him, because once she did, she would run and never look back. And it was suddenly very important to him that she stay.

"You think you know, what you are," she whispered, her eyes dipping down to his lips and then back again. "But you're wrong. I see you, I see the real you, and that's why I'm still here."

She leaned up on her toes and pressed her mouth against his, lightly at first, as though afraid he would pull away. And there was a part of him that wanted to; the part that whispered to him that he would never be good enough for her, that no matter what she said she would never accept the monster that he had become; that he had allowed himself to turn into. That part of him made him want to run, to run away from the girl with the wide innocent smile and the big brown eyes that could look deep into his soul.

But then her sweet scent enveloped him again, and her soft lips moved against his so gently but insistently, and he could feel himself falling. It didn't matter what that small part of him said; that small voice that sounded suspiciously like his father. It didn't matter, because as long as she was in his arms, he felt like there might be a chance for him to change; for him to become the kind of man that she already thought he was.

He pulled her against him, opening her mouth with his lips and slipping his tongue alongside hers, his hands running down her waist to her thighs. With a small moan she lifted her legs and wrapped them around him, her arms around his shoulders as she pressed herself closer to him. Her fingers slid through his hair as she pulled her mouth from his, resting her forehead against his as she gasped for breath.

"I think it's time you showed me your room, don't you?"

As he made his way up the stairs with his girl in his arms, Damon didn't think he'd ever been so grateful for vamp-speed in his entire existence.

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><p><strong>AN: So there you go, I hope you all enjoyed it, and please review?**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So sorry for the delay, something happened in the fandom that made me completely lose my muse, and before it could come back again, RL started getting super busy! I feel like I haven't done anything except work and sleep for months, LOL. Things should be back to normal now though, so hopefully updates should start coming more frequently again!**

**A/N 2: Oh, a few of you were clamouring for me to pick up right where the last chapter left off, so that we could all get our smut fixes, haha! Unfortunately, I just couldn't make it work for this chapter, plus I'm kind of saving that for a chapter later down the line, so I hope you'll forgive me, but you'll just have to use your imagination for what they got up to! ;)  
><strong>

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><p>"You know, I'm starting to feel a little used," Caroline whined as she sat on her bed, flicking through a fashion magazine.<p>

"By who?" Elena admired her newly painted toes; the deep red suited her skin tone perfectly.

"By you!" Caroline threw the magazine across the bed at her friend, who looked up in shock.

"Why? What have I done?"

Caroline gave her hair an annoyed flick as she huffed over Elena's stupidity. "Because I've been helping you, with your sneaking out of school early, and giving my mom excuses for you being out late in the evenings – your grades had better start getting better soon, by the way, because as far as she knows you've been spending all this time at the library trying to catch up – and you haven't given me a single detail about you and Damon!" She pouted, giving Elena the put-upon look she had perfected in front of the mirror earlier. "I feel hurt, like you don't trust me." She widened her eyes slightly, shooting for innocent and missing by a mile.

Elena cocked an eyebrow as she looked back at the blonde. "I've told you things," she stretched herself out on the bed on her stomach, careful not to smudge her still wet toes. "We go to his house, and we hang out. You should see the place, it's enormous. There's like seven bedrooms, and a parlour, and a living room, and –"

"And that's all the boring stuff," Caroline interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I want to know the good stuff, like how good of a kisser he is, how far you've gone with him, what he says, what you say – "

"Caroline, that stuff is private!"

"And I'm supposed to be your best friend, and this is the stuff you tell your best friend, not the stuff about how many bedrooms he has, where's the fun in hearing about that? I want to hear the dirty stuff!" Caroline sat up straighter and glared at Elena. "Now spill. Tell me what you did last night."

Elena felt a blush creep onto her cheeks as her mind was suddenly flooded with images of what had happened the night before and she turned her head, hoping Caroline hadn't seen it. She was out of luck.

"Aha!" Caroline let out a triumphant yell as she noticed the dreamy expression come over her friend's face. "There _are_ more interesting details than the wood panelled study, I knew it! Tell me, tell me, tell me! I want every single detail! You owe me," she added, as Elena looked down and started to shake her head.

Elena sighed. Caroline had been a really good friend to her this past week; she didn't think she would have been able to spend nearly as much time with Damon as she had if Caroline hadn't helped her out the way she had, and Elena _needed_ to spend as much time as possible with him. She thought back to the night before, to the silk sheets on his bed and the way his bare skin had felt as it was pressed against hers; to the beautifully tiled shower that he had pressed her up against as they had made love. She had ever really understood that phrase before; sex with Matt had been just that: sex. But now she understood it completely. It didn't matter what form it took; whether it was slow and sensual, or animalistic and feverish, when she looked into his eyes she could feel the emotion pouring out of him and into her, and she just knew that it was more than just a physical act; it was everything.

"Well?" Caroline huffed in exasperation. "Come on, Elena! I need my vicarious smoochies!"

"What about you and Tyler Lockwood? I thought you two were getting pretty hot and heavy."

"Well, we kind of cooled it for a bit," Caroline bit her lip and frowned slightly. "And you're changing the subject!" She crossed her arms and glared pointedly at her friend.

Elena sighed and opened her mouth to tell Caroline exactly how close she had Damon had become recently – without getting too explicit, of course – when there was a knock at the bedroom door.

Both girls turned as Liz pushed open the door and peeked around it, her eyes warily taking in the extreme pink colour of her daughter's room before settling on Elena.

"Sweetie, there's someone here to see you," she said, biting her lip apprehensively. "Would you come into the living room? Just Elena," she said to Caroline as her daughter moved to stand up.

Elena looked back at her friend, before shrugging and sliding off the bed, following the sheriff out of the room, wondering who it could be and why they had Liz looking so nervous. Liz stopped at the entrance to the living room and stepped back to let Elena go in front of her. She gave the younger girl's shoulder a slight squeeze and whispered, "I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything." Then she stepped back down the hall, leaving Elena standing bewildered, half in and half out of the living room.

"I can't believe how different you look."

Elena started at the sound of the voice, and she peered into the room in front of her. Her eyes settled on a vaguely familiar person, lounging in one of the armchairs over by the window. His dirty blond hair stood up slightly at the front, complementing his slight facial features and small frame. His grey eyes surveyed her as she stood there, taking her in as she stared, trying to place him.

"Uncle John," she said finally, remembering who he was. She hadn't seen him in more than ten years. He had filled out some; his crisp grey suit suggested he had done well for himself. There were a few lines around his eyes that she didn't think had been there the last time they had seen each other. It gave his face a slightly more mature appearance, but it also gave him a shrewd look, as though he was capable of some not nice things, should he choose to be. Her stomach flipped with sudden nerves, and she swallowed loudly, trying to calm herself down.

"You remember me." He sounded pleased, and he leaned forward in his seat, smiling at her in a way that he might have thought was friendly, but came across to Elena as slightly creepy.

She shrugged and moved further into the room. "Not really," she said, looking around for a seat, deciding on the end of the couch, the furthest away from him. "Sheriff Forbes told me you were going to be coming, I just forgot."

"I see." He moved around in his seat, smoothing out his pants, and she wasn't sure if it was nerves or if he was just uncomfortable. He cleared his throat once, twice. "I wanted to say," a third time, "how sorry I am that I couldn't be there for you when... when this all happened," he said, looking around the room, out of the window, anywhere but at her.

Elena took the opportunity to really take him in, to try and see the kind of man he was. She studied him as he studied the faded wallpaper on the far wall, and she wondered what he was thinking. If he thought she was going to ask where he had been and why he hadn't returned sooner, then he was mistaken. She had thought so little of him in the ten years since their last meeting, had actually forgotten he had existed during the time between the accident and the day of the funeral. She remembered sitting up in surprise on the couch in her own living room as she heard Liz ask Aunt Jenna over the phone if she knew how to contact him. The surprise hadn't lasted longer than a second before she had sunk back down into the pit of despair, curling in on herself as she remembered that it didn't matter if nobody knew how to contact her father's younger brother, because nothing mattered anymore. She wasn't going to ask where he'd been either; she hadn't liked him much as a child, and had little interest in the man sitting before her now, her supposed guardian. He wouldn't even be that for very much longer, so what was the point in showing any interest?

"Are you back in Mystic Falls for good now?" She asked finally, needing to say something while not wanting to say anything. Her fingers itched to grab her phone and call Damon.

"Of course." He looked straight at her now, a hint of surprise on his face as though his answer should be obvious to her. But she didn't know enough about him to be able to assume anything.

"So... what happens now?" She curled her fingers into fists against the aching need to send a quick text. _Please come, I need you._

"Well... I've been with the lawyer this afternoon," Uncle John began, clearing his throat again _and wasn't that trait already annoying_. "According to your parents' will, if anything should happen to them both while you were still underage, you were to be taken care of by Jenna." He cleared his throat again, and this time when Elena sneaked a look at him his eyes seemed distant. "There wasn't really a provision for what they wanted if she was unable to do that."

"Right," Elena said faintly, feeling weary all of a sudden. This conversation was getting to be too much for her to handle. There were too many memories forcing their way in, too many images and smells and _colours_ and she wanted to run away to Damon's and bury herself in his arms. "So what happens now?" She asked again, willing the man in front of her to just get to the point and leave.

"Well, we discussed the situation, and the lawyer agreed with me," Uncle John shifted forward to the edge of his seat, looking directly at her. "I'm going to move into the house, and you will stay with me there."

Elena stared at him. She had thought that this might be the case, but she had still hoped differently. The idea of sharing her family home with a virtual stranger made her stomach clench unpleasantly and her breathing speed up. She would much prefer it if he had rented a place for them both to live in, someplace where the memories weren't in such achingly sharp relief.

She swallowed down the panic and nodded slowly. "When?" She asked simply.

"I'm moving my things in tonight, I thought maybe you could join me tomorrow?" It was Friday. She would have to spend an entire weekend closeted up in a house with this man in front of her. "I thought we could use the time to get to know each other." Uncle John smiled that friendly-but-creepy smile at her again, and she tried to make her lips twitch in response. "Okay then," he nodded to himself and stood up, smoothing down his suit as he towered over her. "I'll come and pick you up in the morning?"

"No," Elena heard herself say, as she stared straight ahead at absolutely nothing. "Caroline can drop me off, it's okay."

He nodded again. "See you tomorrow then, Elena." He started to walk out of the room, but stopped in front of her, laying a hesitant hand on her shoulder, and she tried not to flinch at his unfamiliar touch. Then he was out of the room, leaving her alone with her turbulent thoughts.

She sat, still staring into nothing for a long moment, her mind slowly withdrawing back into herself. She recognised the feeling, remembered the way the inky blackness had closed in on her vision when she had disappeared from the world before, and she shot up out of her seat. Clinging onto herself, forcing herself to stay where she was, she threw herself down the hallway and back into her friend's room, closing the door and leaning against it, breathing as hard as if she'd just run a marathon.

"What is it? What's happened?" Caroline jumped off her bed and moved towards her friend, holding her arms out to hug her. Elena let her head fall onto the blonde's pink clad shoulder for a moment, willing her breathing to calm down.

"I need to go," she said finally, when she had found her voice again.

"What? What do you mean?" Caroline stroked her fingers down Elena's hair and she winced inwardly, craving the touch of someone else so acutely it was painful.

"I just... I need to go." Elena lifted her head and stared at her friend, pleading for help with her eyes. "Caroline, please?"

Caroline bit her lip worriedly for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Are you alright to drive?" Elena nodded, concentrating on controlling her breathing. "Then here," Caroline reached over to her bag and drew out her keys, "take my car. I'll tell Mom you just needed some time alone."

Elena grabbed at the keys like a life line and hugged them to her chest. "Thank you," she whispered, blinking back the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

Caroline hugged her fiercely quickly, and then opened her door quietly. "Go do whatever you need to do to feel alright. I'll distract Mom." She skipped down the hallway towards the kitchen, shouting as she went. "Hey Mom, do you need any help with dinner?"

Elena slipped out of the front door to the sound of Liz's taken aback reply and ran to the powder blue car parked outside. She was falling, the blackness was on the edge of her vision, and there was only one thing that could drive it back, only one person who could keep her here and not let her slip.

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><p>Damon looked down at the newly filled freezer, one hand holding the lid as he took stock of the new inventory. He sighed as he sifted through the bags, flipping them over to read the badges. Usually, he stacked them according to type, so that it was easier to grab whichever he had a fancy for in the moment, but the drive back from the hospital had been a long one, even with him pushing his car as fast as it would go. Not wanting to alert anyone in Mystic Falls, he had had to drive three towns over to get enough blood to last him for a good long while, and by the time he had got back the blood had begun to thaw, and he had dumped the whole lot into the freezer before any of them went bad. He grabbed a bag of AB negative, his favourite, and closed the lid, thinking about this town as he walked back up the stairs.<p>

He tried to think back to the last few times he had visited Mystic Falls, trying to remember when he had last heard about the Vampire Council being active. He came back to visit his home maybe once a decade, and the last few times, Zach had been in charge of the Salvatore family estate. But as hard as he tried to think, he couldn't remember Zach ever mentioning the Council during his visits. Zach's father, Tomás, certainly had; he could remember very clearly being confronted with vervain and told to leave before the middle aged man told the other Council members what he was. Damon could also remember how he had slammed the older man up against the wall of the study, with every intention of ripping his throat out, before hearing a small squeak behind him. He had turned around to see a 5 year old Zach, peeping out from behind the desk, eyes wide and fearful. Instead of killing the man, Damon had let his face revert back to normal and had settled for knocking the man unconscious before leaving, only returning again ten years later. His descendant had not made the same mistake again, and neither he nor his son had mentioned the Council in front of Damon again.

Damon sat down in the study and poured the blood into a tumbler. He much preferred it straight from the source; the warmth of it as it coated his tongue, coupled with the hint of whatever emotion the person was feeling made for a heady experience. He never did that here in Mystic Falls; it was too dangerous, but he found drinking it from a bag highly off-putting. He swirled the liquid around the glass, his mind still on the Council. Elena hadn't had any vervain in her system the night of her accident, and he had been able to compel the Sheriff at the hospital. Both the Gilberts and the Forbes were Founding Families; since the Civil War, they had made sure to keep their families safe from vampires by either drinking or wearing vervain. So why was it different now? And when had it changed? He made a mental note to ask Zach – when the man showed his face again – and knocked the blood back, sighing as he felt his hunger sated, for a while at least.

He was just thinking of pouring himself a drink and settling down with a book, when he heard a car speeding down the gravel driveway, screeching to a stop just outside the porch. Frowning, he stood up and looked out of the window, his face softening as he saw Elena sitting in the driver's seat of her blonde friend's car. He waited for her to get out and notice him watching her, for her face to light up with that smile she kept only for him, but instead she leaned her head forward onto the steering wheel, her shoulders shaking.

With a speed that surprised even him, he was out of the house and pulling open her door. Reaching out for her, he pulled her into his arms and walked her back into the house, kicking the door shut and moving into the parlour. He tried to lay her down on the couch, but her small arms clung tighter around his neck and wouldn't let go, so he sat down and placed her in his lap. Tucking her head under his chin, he placed a light kiss on her crown, stroking her hair down her back and making small comforting noises as she sobbed into his chest. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but he knew that with the state she was in, anything she tried to say would be incomprehensible anyway. He was surprised she had even managed to drive all the way here. So he just held her for a while, rocking her slightly and stroking her hair, waiting for her to calm down.

After a while her wracking sobs died down, and Damon decided it was time to find out what was wrong.

"What's happened? Elena?"

Elena sniffed, pulling herself out of his embrace just far enough so that her words wouldn't be muffled but staying close enough that she wouldn't lose his comforting warmth. "My Uncle John arrived in town today," she whispered, tears spilling from beneath her clenched lashes.

"I thought we already knew that would be happening," Damon said gently, still not sure what exactly had set her off.

Elena nodded. "We did, and it wasn't a surprise, it's just..." She took a shuddering breath, trying to calm herself. His hand rubbing gently up and down her spine was helping with that. "It's just that now it's real. I'm going back to that house, and I'm going to be living in it with someone I hardly know. I'm just not sure I'm ready to go back there yet." She leaned her cheek into his hand as he reached up to wipe her tears away. "I just wish I could stay here, with you."

Damon wished she could too, but he knew that wouldn't be possible in this town. Even without anyone knowing what he truly was, people would definitely frown upon a recently orphaned teenage girl moving in with her very recent older boyfriend.

"I'll tell you what," he said instead, turning her chin to make her look at him. "I'll be there as often as I can, and we'll get your overexcited friend to help us with excuses for you be elsewhere as much as possible." He smiled at her, his breathing easing slightly as she returned the smile tremulously.

Elena sighed and rested her head against his as she felt some of the tension slipping away. "I knew you'd make it better," she whispered, running her fingers down over his black t shirt.

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><p>Damon drove Elena back to the sheriff's in her friend's car, her little hands clamped firmly around his arm the entire way. After sitting in the darkened car beneath a broken street lamp for a while, he had eventually managed to convince her to let him go; had even managed to make her smile a bit. He had stood on the pavement, watching as she let herself into the small house, her gaze never leaving his as she slowly shut the door. He had waited until he had heard the sounds of her being greeted by Caroline, making sure she would be at least a little okay, before strolling slowly down the street and into the quiet suburbs.<p>

He walked slowly in the direction of the Grill, thinking as he went. Maybe the legends of the vampires of Mystic Falls had finally fallen victim to time and been forgotten. Maybe it would be safer for him to be here now. He couldn't stay indefinitely, of course; the fact that he didn't age would eventually be noticed after all. But maybe, instead of the occasional fleeting visit once every few years, he could actually call this place home, for a while anyway. At least until Elena grew old enough to be able to leave. After wandering for so long, too restless to be able to settle anywhere for any real length of time, the idea of having a place to call home filled his chest with a feeling he only felt around Elena. It took him a moment to identify it; it was peace.

The background noise level increased as he entered the parking lot of the Grill; loud music that for a human would have drowned out the voices clamouring for attention inside the bar. He opened the door and stepped inside, making straight for the bar. The place was fairly quiet for a Friday night; there were a few high school students gathered around a couple of pool tables and a few of the booths were occupied. Only two bar stools were taken though, the occupants sitting far enough away from each other to point out that they weren't drinking buddies. Damon sized them both up, deciding to sit closer to the guy on the left when he noticed he was drinking bourbon. If he was really considering staying in town for a while, he might even be able to make a few acquaintances while he was here.

He slid onto the stool one down from the guy, watching him out of the corner of his eye as he signalled to the barman for the bottle of his favourite whiskey. Ignoring the shot glass handed to him, Damon pulled out the stopper and lifted the bottle to his lips, pulling a few quick mouthfuls. He was always able to contain his vampire urges more easily when he was at least a little bit tipsy.

"Rough day?"

Damon turned his head to see the man next to him turned on his stool, watching him with his head cocked to the side, a sympathetic smile hitching up one side of his mouth. He had dark blond hair and hazel coloured eyes, his craggy face wearing the haunted look of loneliness that he knew his own face used to show, on the odd occasion that he let his mask slip.

"Aren't they all?" Damon smirked back, downing another couple of gulps from the bottle, before holding it out to the other man. "Need a top up?"

"You live around here, or just passing through?" The man accepted the bottle and poured himself another shot.

"Thinking about both." Damon made himself more comfortable on the stool, swivelling around to lean against the bar. "How about yourself?"

"I just got a job here, at the local high school, teaching history." The man placed the bottle on the bar and held out his hand. "Alaric Saltzman."

Damon shook the guy's hand. "Not too many Alaric's around these days."

"Nope, there aren't," Alaric laughed. "Call me Ric, everyone else does."

"Damon." Damon held up the bottle and Ric clinked his glass against it.

"Not too many Damon's around either."

"Actually, that name has quite a history in this town."

Alaric and Damon both turned around to find the man from further down the bar sliding off his stool and walking towards them.

"Is that a fact?" Damon took in the other man surreptitiously; blond hair, small frame, wrinkled business suit.

"Absolutely." The man parked himself on the stool next to Damon and looked at the two men in front of him, his pale blue eyes shining with confidence. "Back in the Civil War, there was a Damon who caused quite a stir in Mystic Falls." He looked at Alaric. "If you're going to be teaching history here, then you should bone up on your local knowledge."

"And why is my local knowledge important to you?"

Damon smirked; he liked Ric, and this guy was acting like a dick.

"Because you'll be teaching my niece," the man emptied his beer bottle and placed it on the counter, before standing up and holding out his hand. "So I imagine we'll be seeing quite a lot of each other. I'm John Gilbert, nice to meet you both."

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you liked it, and please review? Even just a one-word review would mean so much to me!**


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